Voyage of Passion
by Count Morningstar
Summary: A sequel to Dusk of the Dead, Magma Rising and Week of the Wish Granter. Ash and Misty win tickets for a romantic cruise to the remote Steam Heat Island, known for its legendary hot springs. During the cruise, Ash and Misty run into some old friends. Then on the island, they discover a very powerful Pokemon of legend. Rated M for a very good reason.
1. Rumble At the Port

**Introduction:** Here I am with yet another installment of my Pokemon AU. I know I said at the end of the last story I posted, _Empress of Paradise_ that I'd be doing a story called _Alola Dawn_. For the past few days I've been working on the outline for that story, but it's going to take me a few more weeks to finish, perhaps even a month depending on if I get stuck with part of it. So in the meantime, I thought I'd multitask a bit and publish another story I've been planning to do for this AU for quite some time.

What follows takes place a week or two before the events of the yet to be written story, _Reign of Silver_ (don't worry, I'm getting to it). It picks up about a month after where _Dusk of the Dead_ , _Magma Rising_ and _Week of the Wish Granter_ last left off. Also if those of you reading will briefly check out the rough timeline of stories in the AU on my profile page, you'll find that the following takes place at about the same time as _Mewtwo Zwei_. So basically I'm backtracking a little bit. I know it might be a little frustrating that I've been writing a lot of these stories out of chronological order just a bit, but I can only write them as they come to me.

Anyway, this story was originally going to be a bit more complex, but for multiple reasons I decided to simplify it and make it into a short set of episodic stories, sort of like a oneshot collection but not. So without further delay, here's the first episode of Ash and Misty's voyage.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Episode 1: Rumble At the Port

It was fairly early in the morning as twenty-three year old Pokemon Trainer, Ash Ketchum stood in the port of Olivine City in Johto. Perched on Ash's shoulder was his Pikachu, a small yellow rodent-like creature with long black-tipped pointed ears, red cheeks, and tail shaped like a lightning bolt. Meanwhile standing at his side was a Pokemon resembling a bipedal jackal known as Lucario. Most of Lucario's fur was blue, while his paws were black and there was a band of black fur around his eyes that made it look as if he was wearing a mask. The fur of the Lucario's torso was cream-colored, and protruding from its chest and the back of the paws on its arms were metal spikes.

Ash stood looking at a large cruise ship known as the S.S. Aqua, a ship known for being one of the fastest sea vessels around. Normally the ship only made express trips between Olivine City and Vermillion City in Kanto, but today it was set to make a very special trip a small remote island known as Steam Heat Isle. The island was known as the site of naturally occurring hot springs unlike any other kind in the world. Trips to Steam Heat Isle were very rare, and tickets for such a voyage were extremely expensive. Yet Ash was about to set out on such a voyage thanks to a special sweepstakes that he and his girlfriend, Misty had won the previous week.

At that moment though, Ash was waiting at the harbor for Misty to show up. They had arrived in the city together, but Misty had left him in order to do a little shopping before the ship left port. As Ash let out another sigh, he suddenly spotted a young woman with long flowing orange red hair running towards him. She had on a blue jacket with a red top and tight jean-shorts, and was dragging a suitcase on wheels. This of course was Ash's girlfriend, Misty Waterflower.

"There you are," Ash spoke. "I was starting to worry that the ship would leave without us."

"Oh relax. We still have a little over an hour," Misty pointed out. "Besides, I thought I should get a new swimsuit to mark this special occasion of ours."

"So that makes how many swimsuits you own now? Fifty?" Ash asked as he rolled his eyes. "At this rate, we're gonna have to build another closet for you to put them all in."

"Well this is a surprise," a familiar voice spoke.

Ash and Misty turned, and standing before them was a young woman with long dark hair and emerald-green eyes. She had on a red t-shirt with a gold flame-shaped symbol on the front, along with a denim vest, jean-shorts and black shoes. On the dark-haired woman's wrist was a unique gold bracelet with a marble-like stone fitted into flame-shaped piece on the front. This was one of Ash and Misty's old friends, Lisa Flare. Holding Lisa's hand was another young woman with very fair, almost pale skin and long slightly wavy blonde hair. The blonde had on a black beret and thick black sunglasses, along with a black vest over a sleeveless black shirt, and tight-fitting black jeans with black boots. The blonde was Lisa's girlfriend, Marie Dantes.

"Well hey there!" a pleasantly surprised Ash responded. "We didn't expect to see you guys show up."

"How've you two been?" Misty asked.

"Pretty good. So are you two here for the trip to Steam Heat Isle too?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah. Misty lucked out and won this radio contest where the prize was two tickets on this cruise," Ash revealed. "That how you guys got to go on this trip too?"

"Actually, the tickets Marie and I have were a gift from my dad," Lisa revealed. "He got them for us as sort of a way to make up for what happened last month when we stayed in Lilycove City. You may not have heard about this, but during our stay we had to deal with some stuff involving Team Magma."

"Oh! We did hear something about that on the news after it happened," Misty recalled. "I wish we could've helped you, but Ash and I had something we were dealing with in Lavender Town."

"Well, we got through it okay. Actually, it was largely thanks to someone who's apparently an old friend of yours," Lisa revealed. "You know a coordinator named May Wilson?"

Misty's eye twitched upon hearing the name. "You… you had help from May?"

"Yeah. She was staying with us at Marie's family mansion at the time it all happened," Lisa explained.

"Well I'll be. How's May doing?" Ash asked, totally clueless to Misty's reaction to the news. Pikachu let out a heavy sigh at his trainer's ignorance.

"She was doing well," Lisa answered. "In fact she was the one who foiled Team Magma's plans by capturing Groudon."

"She… she has Groudon now?" a startled Misty asked.

"Yep. In fact she seemed to be determined to catch it after one of us mentioned how you captured Kyogre," Lisa answered. "Anyway, my dad felt bad about how all that ruined our visit, so he gave Marie and I these tickets. We both thought it might be a fun trip."

"Yes. Though I don't know why this damn boat has to leave so early in the morning," Marie spoke with a yawn as she covered her mouth with her other hand.

"Still not a morning person, huh Marie?" Ash asked.

"No. But it's far better than when I suffered from near constant insomnia," Marie replied.

"Well ain't this a small world!" another familiar voice spoke.

The group turned, and coming towards them was a young man with spike blonde hair. He had on sunglasses and wore a yellow vest over a black t-shirt, along with jeans and a pair of black boots, and slung across his back was a red electric guitar. This was yet another one of Ash and Misty's old friends, Bolt Hanson. With Bolt was a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair with a lock near the front that was dyed pink, and pale blue eyes. She had on a black leather jacket with a powder-blue t-shirt, along with a short neon-pink skirt and knee-high black leather boots.

"Bolt! You're going on the cruise too?" a surprised Ash asked.

"Yeah. My buddy, Quinton hooked me up with a couple of tickets," Bolt answered.

"I see you brought a new girlfriend with you," Lisa observed.

Marie meanwhile lowered her sunglasses and blinked her violet eyes in surprise as she looked at Bolt's companion.

"Oh yeah. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Christine," Bolt introduced. "We've been going out for about a month now. Christine, these are some old friends of mine. Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower, Lisa Flare and Marie Dantes."

"It's so nice to finally meet you all. Bolt's mentioned a few of you to me a few times before," Christine spoke. "Bolt, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go pop off and use that ladies' room over there before we get on the ship,"

"Sure thing, babe," Bolt replied.

Christine gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. Marie couldn't help but keep staring at her as she left.

"She seems nice," Misty remarked.

"Hanson, what are you still doing with Christine Wyler?" Marie asked.

"Oh yeah. The two of you have kinda met already," Bolt recalled with a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "And I guess you knew about all that stuff with Christine's family too."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Lisa asked Marie with a raised eyebrow.

"I had a brief encounter with Hanson and that band of his back in Kanto years ago," Marie revealed.

"It was on that trip I took to Kanto right after Ash caught Ho-Oh and all that other stuff with Team Rocket happened," Bolt explained. "We were in Pallet Town visiting Professor Oak when Marie showed up. Of course that was when she was still Noir Mask."

"I was sent there to expel a pair of incompetent Team Rocket agents from the organization," Marie added. "Cassidy and… some other idiot who's name I can't remember. It's not important anyway."

"Yeah well, right after Marie trashed Cassidy and what's-his-name, Christine got into a little battle with her," Bolt added. "It didn't go well."

"So wait, you and Christine were going out back then?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, but we kinda broke it off," Bolt answered. "Actually, she broke it off with me."

"Wait a minute… I remember hearing about this before," Misty recalled. "It was that time in Unova when Ash and I first met the rest of your band. Your friends mentioned that you lost some girl you really seemed to care about to this other guy."

"Richter Chase," Marie spoke. "His family had deep connections with Team Rocket and other various criminal organizations. Christine had an arranged marriage to Richter as part of a business deal between their fathers. In fact I'm surprised they haven't been married already."

"They were gonna be… last month," Bolt revealed. "It was gonna happen in a town in Sinnoh called Stardust Falls, and by a warped coincidence my band and I were playing a gig there at the time."

"So why didn't Christine get married?" Misty asked.

"It's a long and pretty weird story that I may tell you all about later," Bolt answered. "The short version is that we owe Christine's freedom to some wishes made in the heat of the moment to a sociopathic Jirachi."

"Wait, what?" Lisa asked with a raised eyebrow.

At that moment, Christine came back. "Sorry to keep you all waiting. So, how much time before the ship sets sail?"

"We've still got about an hour left," Lisa answered. "I guess we could all get a bite to eat before we get on the ship."

"Step right up ladies and gentlemen!" a voice suddenly called. "Today, for a limited time only, rare Mega Stones from the far corners of Kalos and Hoenn! Plus keystones fitted into all types of jewelry! And all for low, low prices!"

Ash and the others looked, and sitting at the corner of a small brick building was a young woman witch dark hair wearing a black shirt with a light-brown cape, black fingerless gloves and very short brown jean shorts. Wrapped around the young woman's right ankle was a strange blue piece of jewelry. Standing next to the young woman was a small pink creature with an odd face, stubby arms, large feet with yellow toes, and two large floppy ears on top of its body. Ash and the others recognized the creature as a Whismer. Laid out around the dark-haired girl on pieces of brown cloth were several black boxes and odd pieces of jewelry of various sizes.

"No way!" Lisa spoke. "Zinnia?"

"You know that girl trying to sell stuff to tourists?" Bolt asked.

"Yeah. She helped us during the Team Magma incident we were telling Ash and Misty about before," Lisa answered.

"Why don't we go say hi then?" Ash suggested before heading over to Zinnia with Pikachu and Lucario.

Misty and the others soon followed after Ash. It didn't take Zinnia long to notice them.

"Well hello there," Zinnia spoke. "Come to check out my stones?"

"What're you doing here, Zinnia?" Marie asked.

"Wha… well I'll be damned!" Zinna spoke. "Marie Dantes and Lisa Flare! Well isn't this a small world."

"So now you're selling Mega Stones?" Lisa asked.

"Well, Aster here and I were running a little short on cash," Zinnia answered as she patted her Whismer on the head. "And thanks to that friend of mine, we have more Mega Stones than we know what to do with."

"What the heck are Mega Stones anyway?" Ash asked.

"They're used to trigger this thing called Mega Evolution," Bolt explained. "Mega Evolution is a sort of transformation that some Pokemon can do during battle to boost their power. A couple of the guys in my band have Pokemon that can go through Mega Evolution."

"Lisa's Blaziken can go through Mega Evolution as well," Marie added.

"Huh… I wonder if any of my Pokemon can do this Mega Evolution thing?" Ash asked as he looked over Zinnia's wares.

"Excuse me sir, but are you a friend of Marie and Lisa by any chance?" Zinnia asked.

"Yeah. I'm Ash," the dark-haired trainer replied. "Ash Ketchum."

Zinnia's lips curved into a smirk. "Ash Ketchum, eh? Yeah… I think Marie and Lisa mentioned you once or twice. Anyway, I think I have just what you're looking for."

With that, Zinnia picked up a large wooden box on her right and opened it up before Ash. Inside the box was an ornate black and gold bracelet that had a blue marble-like stone fitted into the top. Next to the bracelet was a black manacle decorated with gold lines and a thin silver band on each end. Embedded in the top of the manacle was a large round orange, blue and red stone.

"See the rock decorating the big piece of jewelry in here?" Zinnia asked as she pointed at the manacle. "That's a Mega Stone called Lucarionite. The other item in this box is called a Mega Ring, and has its own special stone called a keystone. What you do is you have Lucario wear the Mega Stone, while you wear the Mega Ring on your arm. With these two objects, your Lucario can Mega Evolve."

"Huh… interesting. How much do you want for these?" Ash asked.

"For you? These are on the house," Zinnia answered as she handed Ash the box. "I wouldn't feel right charging you for them since you seem to be good buds with Marie and Lisa."

"Gee. Thanks," Ash replied as he took the box.

"Do you have any stones that my Pokemon might be able to use?" Misty asked. "My name's Misty, by the way."

"As in Misty Waterflower?" Zinnia asked. "Oh my! You have no idea what an honor it is to meet you! I have been a big fan of yours for ages! Why, you're one of the most talented Water Pokemon trainers out there, way more talented than those sisters of yours."

"Well thanks," Misty replied with a slight blush.

"Anyway, if you have a Gyarados, then this stone should be just the one for you," Zinnia told her as she handed the redhead a large black metal collar. "And of course it's on the house, what with you knowing Marie and all."

"I do have a Gyarados actually," Misty replied as she took the collar. "Um, what about one of those keystones you were telling Ash about. I need one of those too, right?"

"Uh-huh. And I have just the keystone for you right here!" Zinnia told her as she produced a small silver-colored amulet styled to look like a pokeball. It had a keystone embedded in the center, and carved into the top half was the symbol of the alpha. "Just the right accessory for a gal like you."

"Well thanks," Misty replied as she took the amulet and put it on.

"My pleasure, Misty-chan," Zinnia told her.

"Um, do you have any Mega Stones that my Pokemon might be able to use?" Christine asked.

"Depends. What Pokemon have ya got?" Zinnia asked.

"Well, I have a Clefable, a Dragonite, a Ninetales, an Altaria…" Christine spoke.

"Oh! As it happens, I have a piece of Altarianite right here," Zinnia told Christine as she handed her a shiny silver collar. Fitted into the front of the collar was a round pink, white and blue stone. "I also have a stylish Mega Ring to go with it."

With that, Zinnia also handed a shiny silver bracelet with a keystone fitted into the top. The bracelet was decorated with small musical notes.

"And of course I'll give you the same discount that I gave Misty-chan and her boyfriend," Zinnia added.

"Well thanks," Christine replied as she put the bracelet on.

"We should probably have that lunch now before the ship takes off," Ash suggested to the others. "Nice meeting you, Zinnia."

"Same here," Zinnia replied.

With that, Ash and Misty headed off to a small café at the edge of the harbor with Bolt and Christine. Marie and Lisa meanwhile hung back.

"What're you up to, Zinnia?" Marie asked.

"Why whatever do you mean?" Zinnia innocently responded.

"Don't play dumb. That necklace you gave to Misty had almost the exact same design as the one you gave to May," Marie pointed out.

"Did it? I hardly noticed," Zinnia replied. "Isn't that a funny coincidence? Well, if you ladies will excuse me, I have stones to sell."

Seeing that they weren't going to get anything out of Zinnia, Marie and Lisa headed off to catch up with Ash and the others.

* * *

Misty had finished eating and had stepped out of the restaurant to get some air. She found Bolt already standing outside strumming something on his guitar.

"Hey Bolt," Misty spoke, getting his attention. "Everything okay?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't it be?" Bolt asked.

"Well when you left earlier, I thought that something might be wrong," Misty answered.

"Nah. I just had a thought for a new song and wanted to get outside to try it out," Bolt explained. "So, uh… what do you think of Christine?"

"I like her," Misty told him. "The two of you seem like a good match."

"Yeah… I still can't quite believe that the two of us are actually back together sometimes," Bolt admitted. "After that day in Viridian City years ago when she went back to Richter… I thought I had lost her for good. Though on the bright side, that day caused me to start up my band. Hell, it even inspired our greatest hit ever so far, Viridian Rhapsody. Still, it's weird the way how things work out."

"Hanson!" a voice shouted.

Misty and Bolt looked, and staggering towards them was a young man with straight unkempt dark hair, a lock of which hung over one of his eyes. He had on a dirty and tattered pinstripe suit with a crooked red tie. The man moved towards them as though there were something wrong with one of his legs.

"No way… Richter?" a shocked Bolt spoke.

"Wait, as in the guy Christine was supposed to marry?" Misty asked.

"You stole something from me, Hanson!" Richter continued. "I can't… I can't remember what you took… but I'm going to make you pay for it!"

"What's wrong with him?" Misty asked. "He doesn't look right."

"That Jirachi really did a number on him," Bolt observed. "I almost feel sorry for the poor bastard."

"You hear me Hanson? Today is the day I finally make you suffer!" Richter declared.

Misty quickly stepped between Richter and Bolt. "I don't know exactly what happened between you and Bolt, but leave him alone!"

"Get out of my way, you bitch!" Richter shouted as he knocked Misty to the ground with his fist.

"Hey!" a voice shouted from the door of the restaurant. Richter and the others looked to see Ash had shown up with Pikachu and Lucario. "Who the hell do you think you are hitting my girlfriend like that?"

"I don't know who you are and I don't care!" Richter responded. "I'm here for Hanson and nothing else!"

"Ash! This is that guy Christine was engaged to!" Misty told him as she got to her feet.

"Is that right?" Ash spoke as he and his two Pokemon approached. "Well if you want Bolt, you're gonna have to go through me first!"

"…Fine," Richter agreed after a moment. "I could probably use the warm-up."

"Lucario, get in there," Ash commanded.

Lucario nodded and stepped forward to face Richter. Misty meanwhile had already moved to the side to watch the battle with Bolt. As Richter took his position, Misty noticed that Lucario was already wearing the manacle that Zinnia had given Ash. Ash meanwhile was wearing the corresponding Mega Ring.

"Go Nidoking!" Richter called as he tossed out a pokeball.

Bursting out of the ball and onto the battlefield was a large purple creature with a white chest and belly that almost looked like a cross between a gorilla and a rhino. It had large ears that were green on the inside, and a long horn adorned its forehead. Its back was covered in spines and it had a thick long tail.

"This battle is already as good as over," Richter declared. "That low-class Pokemon of yours is no match for any of mine."

"Lucario, let's thrash him!" Ash called.

Suddenly Lucario's Mega Stone and Ash's keystone began to glow. Lucario cried out and suddenly his body gave off a blinding gold flash that shot into the sky. After a moment the light faded to reveal Lucario in a different form. He had become slightly taller and his cream-colored fur had grown somewhat longer, with much of it growing down to cover his tail. The paws of his arms and legs had turned crimson and each had a pair of metal spikes growing from the back. His red eyes had become green, and the hair-like appendages on the back of his head had grown much longer, with two of them gaining red tips. A multicolored DNA helix briefly appeared above Lucario's head, and his whole body was surrounded by a flame-shaped golden aura.

Lucario's body gave off blue electrical sparks. The blast of energy that had been generated by his transformation had caused a crater to form in the ground under his feet. Misty noticed that Ash's body was giving off sparks of blue electricity as well, and his eyes had also turned the same shade of green as Lucario's. Ash had also become slightly muscular somehow.

"So… this is Mega Evolution?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, but… this looks a little different from the Mega Evolutions I've seen," Bolt told her.

"Your Pokemon's transformation won't make a bit of difference!" Richter declared. "Nidoking! Use Horn Drill!"

"Ice Punch!" Ash commanded.

With dazzling speed, Lucario suddenly dashed across the battlefield and landed a hard punch on Nidoking's stomach. In a split second, Nidoking's body was covered in a thick layer of ice. A few seconds later, the ice shattered and Nidoking collapsed to the ground on his side unconscious. Misty, Bolt, Pikachu and Richter were all stunned.

"…A lucky shot," Richter declared as he called Nidoking back to his ball. "This next Pokemon will put you in your place for sure! Go Excadrill!"

Bursting out of Richter's second pokeball was a fairly large dirt-brown mole-like creature with a white face and pink nose. A red almost diamond-shaped pattern was on its stomach and on the top of its head, extending forward, was a horn that looked like part of a drill bit. The long claws on the creature's arms looked like the remaining two segments of the drill bit that was on its head.

"Use Bulldoze!" Richter commanded.

"Aura Sphere!" Ash ordered.

In a flash, Lucario formed a large ball of blue light surrounded by a golden aura between his paws. The jackal Pokemon launched the sphere from his paws and struck Excadrill in the chest. Excadrill was knocked onto his back and was out cold.

"Damn! Ash is just walking all over Richter's Pokemon," Bolt observed.

"So Richter must specialize in Ground Pokemon, huh?" Misty observed.

"Yeah. The worst kind of Pokemon an Electric-Type specialist could face," Bolt confirmed. "And all of them are tough too. But Ash's Lucario is just walking all over them."

"Another lucky shot," Richter declared as he called back Excadrill. "But your luck's about to run out! Go Rhyperior!"

Bursting out of Richter's ball was an enormous creature that looked like a cross between a rhino and a dinosaur. It stood at about seven feet tall and was mostly dark-brown in color. Red stone plates covered its chest and the back of its head like armor. On its nose was a silver drill-like horn, and there was a small silver horn on its forehead. Its tail resembled a club, and it had large forearms with long flat spikes on its elbows. The creature's hands had three thick white fingers with flat tips, and in each palm was a large hole.

"Use Drill Run!" Richter commanded.

"Bone Rush!" Ash ordered.

A ball of blue light appeared in the palm of Lucario's right paw and quickly changed into a long metal bone. Before Rhyperior could make a move, Lucario struck the rhino Pokemon repeatedly and with incredible speed, crying out as he did so. When Lucario's relentless attack ended, Rhyperior collapsed to the ground on his side unconscious.

"I'm not through yet!" Richter declared as he called back Rhyperior. "Go Mamoswine!"

Bursting out of Richter's latest pokeball was a fairly large creature that looked like a cross between a wild bore and a wooly mammoth. It seemed to lack ears, but it was hard to tell if the creature had ears or not because most of its body was covered in thick brown fur. The creature's face was bare, and around its eyes was a blue marking resembling a mask rimmed in white. It had a short pig-like snout, and growing from its face were two long white tusks that curved upward towards the end.

"Bulldoze!" Richter commanded.

"Close Combat!" Ash ordered.

Before Mamoswine could make a move, Lucario rushed in and began pummeling the mammoth-pig with his fists, crying out in a savage rage as he did so. The jackal Pokemon's arms moved with such speed that it looked like he had more than two. Lucario eventually delivered a final blow to Mamoswine's face, causing him to topple over on his side unconscious.

"This ends now!" Richter declared as he called back Mamoswing and tossed out another pokeball. "Go Krookodile!"

Bursting out of the thrown ball was a large red crocodile-like creature with black stripes and a white underside. It stood on its hind legs and had well developed arms. Around its eyes was a black mask-like shape that gave one the impression that it was wearing sunglasses.

"Now you're just not even trying," Ash declared with a cocky smirk.

"Use Dig!" Richter ordered.

"Aura Sphere!" Ash commanded.

Lucario fired another ball of blue and gold light from his paws before Krookodile could make a move. Upon being hit, Krookodile was out cold and fell to the ground on his belly.

"That's it!" Richter spoke as he called Krookodile back. "You're finished, whoever you are! Go Torterra!"

Bursting out of Richter's ball was a very large tortoise that was green and dirt-brown in color. Each side of its head was a large white spike. Three similar spikes grew from the right side of its moss-covered shell at an upward angle, and growing from the right side of the shell was a large bonsai tree.

"Use Bulldoze!" Richter commanded.

"Ice Punch!" Ash ordered.

Lucario moved in and punched Torterra in the face before the tortoise could make a move. Torterra became covered in a thick layer of ice in less than a second. Moments later the ice shattered and Torterra fell to the ground unconscious. With the battle over, Lucario turned on his heel and calmly walked back over to Ash's side. As he did so, the jackal Pokemon glowed with a gold light and changed back to his original form. Meanwhile, Ash's eyes returned to normal and his body had stopped crackling with electricity.

"Well, I feel inadequate," Bolt remarked.

"So that's Mega Evolution, huh?" Ash spoke as he looked at his Mega Ring. "That was kind of a rush."

"Ash, are you okay?" Misty asked as she came over.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Ash asked.

"Damn… you…" Richter spoke as he called back Torterra. "I'm not done yet. I'm not leaving until I make Hanson pay for what he did!"

"What's going on out here?" a voice spoke. Ash and the others looked to see Christine standing in the doorway with Marie and Lisa.

Richter gasped when he saw Christine. "Who… who are…"

"Richter?" a stunned Christine spoke.

Richter started to move towards Christine but froze after the first step. He then cried out and held onto the sides of his head. "No! No, I mustn't… I mustn't… NOOO!"

Suddenly Richter ran away from Ash and the others, screaming and waving his arms like a madman. In a few more seconds he had vanished from sight.

"What the hell was that?" Lisa asked.

"Guess that was the wish I had made to Jirachi in action," Bolt answered as Christine quickly went over to him. "I wished that Richter would just forget about Christine and stay away from her. So Jirachi just fried Richter's brain and programmed him to do just that."

"Are you okay?" Christine asked Bolt.

"Yeah. I'm good," Bolt assured her. "Are you okay though?"

"I'm fine," Christine answered. "It almost gave me a heart attack when I saw Richter again like that, but I'm okay."

"Maybe you guys should tell us about what happened at Stardust Falls," Marie suggested.

"Later," Bolt told them. "Right now we should probably get to the ship."

"Go idea," Ash agreed. "They're probably getting ready to leave right now."

* * *

Ash and the others had made it onto the S.S. Aqua only five minutes before it was set to leave port. Once everyone had settled into their rooms aboard ship, they all met again for dinner. During that time, Bolt and Christine told the others about the troubling events in Stardust Falls that had led to Christine's freedom from her marriage obligations. It seemed that the cost of Christine's freedom had been quite high, though Ash and the others were quite happy for her and Bolt. After dinner, Ash and the rest of the gang returned to their quarters for the night.

Misty was lying on the bed in the room she shared with Ash while Ash was in the shower, staring up at the ceiling. The redhead's mind was not on the story she and the others had heard from Bolt and Christine, and was instead dwelling on Ash. Misty had noticed that Ash had gotten a little more on the muscular side after triggering Lucario's Mega Evolution, and it seemed that Ash had retained that physique even after Lucario's transformation had ended. Misty found that she rather liked that Ash was now a little more on the buff side. All during the dinner she found herself gazing at his arms.

At last Misty sat up and noticed that Pikachu and Lucario were fast asleep in a corner of the room. Satisfied that there was little danger of disturbing the sleep of the two Pokemon, Misty began to undress.

* * *

Ash was busy washing his long dark hair when he heard the shower door open. He turned around to see Misty standing before him totally naked. The redhead bit her lower lip, as she looked him over from head to toe.

"Um… I'm almost done," Ash nervously spoke.

"No you're not," Misty declared as she sauntered over to him. "Not until I'm through with you."

Misty put an arm around Ash's shoulder and met his lips in a deep passionate kiss. Ash quickly returned the kiss and soon their tongues began to grind against one another while the water of the shower cascaded down around them. As they continued to kiss, Misty's right hand began to stroke Ash's long rock-hard manhood. At the same time, Ash's hand was massaging Misty's breast, his thumb toying with the erect nipple. They continued on like this for several minutes before they were forced to break apart for air.

Ash then took hold of Misty's rear and lifted her up so he could insert his rod into her moist womanhood. Misty quickly wrapped her legs around Ash's waist like a vice and held onto his broad shoulders as Ash started to pound into her. Another eternity seemed to go by before Misty's inner walls tightened around Ash's manhood. Then in one glorious instant the two of them climaxed at the same time. Misty could feel a massive warmth shoot into her.

After a moment, Ash set Misty down and withdrew from her. They stood in each other's arms for a bit trying to catch their breath. Eventually Misty pulled away a bit from Ash and quickly looked him over again.

"You're good to go another round, right?" Misty asked.

"Uh… sure," Ash answered, his manhood already hardening once again.

Misty smiled and leaned in close to whisper in Ash's ear. "I want you to do me in the ass."

Ash blinked in total surprise. "Seriously?"

Misty nodded. "I want you to turn me around, break in through my backdoor and pound me into the wall."

Ash couldn't believe what had suddenly got into his girlfriend. "Um… okay then."

With that, Ash turned Misty around, pushed her against the wall of the shower, and shoved his rod into her rear end. Misty's eyes nearly rolled to the back of her head as Ash entered her. The mixture of pleasure and pain she was feeling was amazing, and Ash felt nearly twice as big coming in through her B-side. As soon as Ash was certain that Misty was used to the feeling of him entering her from the rear, he did as the redhead had wanted him to and started to pound into as hard as he could. Misty's knuckles turned white as she grasped the wall of the shower.

As they went on, Ash eventually reached around and inserted a pair of fingers into Misty's womanhood. Misty's tongue hung out a bit as Ash continued to pump into her from both sides. Eventually Ash felt Misty's inner walls tightening around his fingers, and he could feel himself getting close to the edge as well. Then in the same blissful moment, the two of them climaxed together yet again. As they came down from their high, Ash pulled out of Misty and turned her around in his arms.

"Wow! I don't think I've ever seen this side of you before," Ash told her. "What the heck got into you anyway?"

"Oh… let's just say I liked how you performed in that battle earlier today," Misty answered.

"Yeah. That Mega Evolution thing was sure something else," Ash replied. "I've never seen Lucario fight with that kind of power before."

"And he wasn't the only one who evolved in that battle," Misty quietly remarked.

"Huh?" Ash responded.

"Oh nothing," Misty told him. "Just shut up and kiss me. And if you're up for it, maybe we can go for a third round."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well, I hope everyone reading enjoyed this first episode. I'll admit that it wasn't my best work. For instance it was probably a little _too_ convenient for Ash and the others to run into Zinnia and Richter like that. Anyway, two of the reasons why I wanted to do this story were so I could have Ash, Misty, Lisa and Marie meet Christine before the events of _Reign of Silver_ , and so that Ash could get Lucario's Mega Stone before _Reign of Silver_ as well. The whole Mega Evolution thing kind of threw a curveball into my original plans for Reign of Silver, though it's also allowed me to make the story that's to come right after that one a lot more interesting.

So I'm sure you all noticed that the Mega Evolution of Ash's Lucario was on the unique side. I speak of course of Lucario's green eyes and the super saiyan LV2 aura he produced while Mega Evolved. Then of course there was the slight transformation that Ash went through when Lucario Mega Evolved. I thought it'd make sense for Ash's Lucario to have a "special" Mega Evolution due to Ash being this chosen one. Anyway, I'll probably have this story's next episode up sometime during the next week, depending on how things go with the _Alola Dawn_ outline. The next episode will focus on Lisa and Marie, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Shadow of Noir Mask

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Episode 2: Shadow of Noir Mask

It was fairly late in the morning as Marie sat on the deck of the ship by the pool. She sat in a reclining chair next to a table with a large umbrella that almost totally blocked out the sun. Marie had on her sunglasses, along with an unbuttoned long-sleeved shirt over a black two-piece swimsuit, though she had no real intention of getting in the pool. As Marie took a sip from the glass of lemonade she had resting on the table near her, she watched as Misty and Christine got out of the water. Misty had on a white two-piece swimsuit with blue trim, while Christine had on a one-piece suit that was powder blue in color and showed off every curve of her figure underneath quite well.

As Marie looked at Christine, she couldn't help but think of the story Bolt had told the night before of Christine's ordeal with Richter Chase and her father, and of how Christine had unwittingly gotten out of it. Of how Christine had made a wish to an apparently sociopathic Jirachi that led to the mythical Pokemon killing her father and stepmother. Marie found that she sympathized with Christine a great deal. After all, both of them had spent years of their lives trapped in hell, though Marie's hell had been a bit different from Christine's, but no less agonizing from the sound of it. Marie wondered briefly if the one-piece suit Christine was wearing was to hide some of the old bruises she had received from the beatings she had gotten from Richter. One thing Marie had to admit though was that she was rather impressed that Christine had the strength to survive what she had been through.

While Marie pondered all these things, Misty came over and sat in the reclining chair on the opposite side of her table. "Aren't you going in for a swim, Marie? The water's great!"

"Perhaps later," Marie replied.

"So where's Lisa?" Misty asked.

"She went off to go watch that battle Ash and Bolt were going have at the other side of the ship," Marie answered. "I don't know if she intends to fight whoever wins or what. In any case, she said that she and the others would be along in a bit. Misty… what do you think of Christine?"

"I like her. And it's nice to see Bolt actually committed to someone," Misty replied. "Why, do you have a problem with her?"

"Not at all," Marie answered before taking another sip from her glass. "I was just curious to hear your impression of her."

"You sort of met Christine once before, right?" Misty recalled. "When Bolt and his friends were traveling through Kanto?"

"Yes, but only briefly. Christine challenged me to a battle because she despised that I used Darkrai to attack those two morons I had been sent to expel from Team Rocket," Marie replied. "Of course I can understand her reaction. I was a monster in those days."

"You don't have to justify yourself to me. We all know that you did what you had to in order to survive what you were going through," Misty told her.

"Yes, but I wonder if Christine would have that same understanding?" Marie pointed out. "I'd be interesting to find out… and to find out if she really has the same kind of strength I needed in those days."

* * *

Ash's friendly battle with Bolt had come to a swift end, with Bolt having been the one who lost. Once the battle was over, Ash and the others had gone to the ship's Pokemon Center to have Bolt's Pokemon treated. The three sat in the lounge as they waited for the ship's Nurse Joy to return.

"Man! You and your Pokemon have really gotten good, Ash my man," Bolt remarked. "I'm just glad that Christine wasn't there to see me get creamed."

"Hey Bolt, speaking of Christine, have you told her anything about Marie's past?" Lisa asked.

"Oh… uh, well? It's kind of a hard topic to bring up, you know?" Bolt answered as he rubbed the back of his head. "I mean she probably wouldn't react too well to the news. Christine really got ticked at Marie that time she attacked those two Team Rocket losers as Noir Mask, so much so that she challenged Marie to a battle. If Christine found out now, it might cause problems."

"You probably should tell her Bolt," Ash told him as Pikachu stood next to him on the table eating an apple. "With as much time as we're probably going to be spending together here on this ship, she'll probably find out eventually."

Bolt let out a sigh. "Yeah man. I hear ya. It's gonna be a real awkward conversation though."

"Well isn't this a nice little surprise?" a familiar voice spoke.

Ash and the others looked, and standing before them was a lithe young-looking woman with blue eyes and straight white hair that had two long twin ponytails. Covering her ears was a pair of silver headphones. The headphone covering her right ear had a small fin-shaped antenna with a blue tip, while the left headphone had a similar antenna with a red tip and a small microphone. The woman had on a black two-piece swimsuit with a white pareo wrapped around her waist, along with black sandals. On her right wrist was a thin silver bracelet with a keystone fitted into the top.

With the white-haired woman was another young-looking woman with tan skin, reddish-brown hair, and a rather impressive bust. A blue propeller-shaped ornament decorated her hair, and covering her eyes was a pair of orange sunglasses. The redhead's outfit consisted of a blue two-piece swimsuit with white wing-shaped marks decorating her top, with a blue pareo wrapped around her waist. Blue sandals covered the redhead's feet, and on her right wrist was a sky-blue bracelet with a keystone fitted into the top.

Ash recognized the duo instantly. "No way… Elesa? Skyla?"

"Long time, no see Ash," the redheaded Skyla greeted.

"And Bolt Hanson too," the white-haired Elesa spoke. "I never expected I'd run into you here."

"Hey Elesa. Love the new look," Bolt responded.

"Bolt, how do you know Elesa?" Ash asked.

"You kidding man? We're both sort of celebrities, as well as Electric Pokemon enthusiasts," Bolt pointed out. "We first met a few years ago when my band did a gig at one of her fashion shows."

"Oh," Ash replied. "So Elesa, I guess you and Skyla are here on vacation or something?"

Elesa nodded. "The fact is Sky and I needed to get away from the public for a bit. We sort of went public with our relationship not long ago, and since then things have been a little crazy for us back home."

"What do you mean sort of?" Bolt asked.

"I visited Elesa backstage at one of her shows, and some stagehand spotted us making out," Skyla explained. "The sleaze recorded us with his phone and sold the video to one of those celebrity 'news' outfits, and the thing went viral overnight."

"It's not a huge deal since we were planning to come out about our relationship pretty soon anyway," Elesa added. "But it's not the way we would've liked, and that damn video has had the media in a frenzy. So Sky and I decided to leave Unova for a while until things finally settle down."

"What about your gym leader duties?" Ash asked.

"My grandfather's been running my gym, and Elesa got one of her fellow models to fill in at hers," Skyla answered.

At that moment, the ship's Nurse Joy came back with a tray holding a single pokeball. "Mr. Hanson? Your Luxray is back to perfect health."

"Thanks a bunch, Nurse Joy," Bolt replied as the pink-haired nurse sat the tray down on the table.

"So anyway, Sky and I were about to head off to the pool for some sun," Elesa told the group as Nurse Joy left. "Care to join us?"

"We were about to go there ourselves," Ash informed them. "We'll join you in a sec."

Elesa nodded, and both she and Skyla left. As the couple departed, Ash let out a heavy sigh.

"Well, I guess that's two more people we'll have to tell about Marie's secret," Ash told Bolt and Lisa.

"Why? How come those two need to know?" Lisa asked.

"Well… this happened a few years ago back when Misty and I were traveling around Unova," Ash began. "It's kind of a long story. You see Misty and I had this other friend we kept bumping into back then, Bianca. Bolt, I'm sure you remember her."

Bolt chuckled. "Oh yeah. She was… she was something."

"Another one of your 'groupies' I take it?" Lisa asked.

"This happened before Bianca met Bolt though," Ash told her. "So anyway, Bianca had this overprotective dad, and he came to Elesa's gym to drag her back home because he thought she wasn't ready to be a Pokemon trainer yet, even though she was sixteen or so at the time. Well Elesa suggested this bet where if Bianca would beat her in a gym battle, Bianca's dad would have to let her continue on her journey. Biana ended up losing, but instead of going with her dad quietly, she stormed off."

"Can't blame her for that," Lisa remarked.

"Yeah, well… Misty and I never found out exactly what happened, but somehow Bianca ran into Marie… as Noir Mask," Ash continued. "Apparently Marie put Bianca through some kind of training. Well a few days later, I beat Elesa in a gym battle."

"Did you use the same Golurk you used to wipe the floor with me earlier?" Bolt asked.

"Yeah," Ash confirmed. "Anyway, right after my gym battle, Bianca showed up again, with Marie. Bianca and Marie challenged Elesa and Bianca's dad to this tag team battle and beat them, pretty badly. Afterwards Bianca left and went down sort of this dark path for a while, and I guess Marie went back to her normal job for Team Rocket."

"Dang!" Bolt spoke.

"Um… you don't know how close Marie and this Bianca got during that time, do you?" Lisa nervously asked.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Dude, she's asking if Marie and Bianca dated or anything like that," Bolt responded as if the answer were obvious. "And Lisa, I can tell you from personal experience that Bianca probably wasn't interested in Marie in that way, if you catch my drift. Trust me, you've got nothing to worry about… unless of course Bianca swings both ways. I don't think she does though."

"Well, I'm sure nothing like that did happen between them," Lisa assumed. "Still, all this reminds me that there's still a lot I don't know about Marie's past during that time."

"Well the point I've been trying to make though is that if Elesa finds out that Marie was Noir Mask, she might not react too well," Ash told them. "We're gonna have to find a good way to tell her and Skyla, and to explain why Marie did what she did. And we're probably going to have to do it soon."

* * *

Christine had gotten out of the pool for a second time as Marie finally got out of her chair and walked towards her. Misty was watching as the blonde approached and noticed the serious look on Marie's face as she removed her sunglasses.

"Christine? You and I need to have a little talk," Marie spoke as Christine dried off.

"Sure Marie. What about?" Christine asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to come out and say it. I used to be Noir Mask," Marie revealed. "You remember, the masked Team Rocket agent you and Bolt met back in Pallet Town years ago?"

Christine's eyes widened with a mixture of shock and rage. "You… you're that girl who used your Pokemon to attack those two people?"

"I'm not proud of what I did back then," Marie replied. "But I had to do it in order to survive."

"Nothing could justify what you did!" Christine declared. "How could Bolt even consider someone like you to be one of his friends? You're a monster!"

"That was the image I tried to project. Perhaps that's even what I became," Marie admitted. "But let she who is without sin cast the first stone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Christine asked.

"Some might call you a monster for what you did to your father," Marie pointed out.

"That… that wasn't my fault!" Christine shot back. "You heard what Bolt and I told you about Jirachi! I didn't mean for any of that to happen!"

"Perhaps. But then if fate hadn't intervened like that and led you to find that Jirachi, chances are you probably would've done something else just as horrible to free yourself from your situation with Richter and your father," Marie pointed out. "When you get right down to it, you and I are quite alike. We're both good people who had to do unspeakable things in order to survive."

"You and I are nothing alike!" Christine declared as she backed away.

Marie shook her head. "So quick to cast judgment when you know hardly anything about me or my past. Well… I suppose there's really only one way to settle our differences. I think you and I should have a quick battle, right here and now. I'd like to see if you really have the strength you seem to have."

"Fine," Christine agreed. "But this won't end the same way as that battle we had years ago."

Misty watched tensely as Marie and Christine got the pokeballs they brought with them and took positions by the pool. As the redhead looked on, Ash arrived with all the others.

"Misty, what the heck's going on?" Ash asked.

"You won't believe this. Marie just told Christine that she used to be Noir Mask and challenged her to a battle," Misty answered, not noticing all the other people who were with Ash.

"Wait, are you talking about that strange masked girl who showed up at my gym years ago with your friend, Bianca?" Elesa asked.

Misty flinched and went a bit pale. "Elesa? What the heck are you doing here?"

"Yeah, I was gonna warn you about that when I got here," Ash whispered.

"I guess it's not really my business Ash, but I can't understand how you could be friends with such a horrible young woman," Elesa spoke.

"You just shut the hell up!" Lisa snapped. "You don't know a thing about why Marie had to become that person she pretended to be!"

"Whoa! Chill Lisa," Bolt told her. "No need to throw gas on a flame here."

"Of course… I guess I was no different from you once," Lisa admitted as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I once thought she was a monster too before I knew the truth."

"We'll do this as a quick three-on-three battle," Marie suggested to Christine. "Okay with you?"

"Fine by me!" Christine answered as she threw out a pokeball. "Go Altaria!"

Flying out of the ball was a large blue bird-like creature with a long neck. Two long streamer-like plums grew from its head, and its face had a small hooked white beak, two large white cheeks, and two small beady eyes. Its wings and torso were covered in thick white cloud-like feathers. Five streamer-like feathers grew from the bird's tail, and it had two talons each with three toes at the front and one on the back. Around Altaria's neck was the silver collar with the Mega Stone that Christine had gotten from Zinnia.

"Go!" Marie called as she tossed out her own pokeball.

Bursting from Marie's thrown ball was a shadowy creature with an hourglass-shaped body. The creature had no legs and simply hovered in the air. Its hair resembled a billowing white ghostly flame and covered one of its light-blue eyes. Around its neck was a large somewhat spiky growth that resembled a necklace of red beads. The rest of its body was black and tattered.

"No way! Marie's sending out Darkrai already?" a stunned Bolt observed. "Would it kill her to pull her punches a little?"

"Attack with Dark Pulse!" Marie commanded.

From between his hands, Darkrai fired a barrage of rings made of a black energy. The barrage struck Altaria in the chest and knocked her back in the air slightly.

"Altaria, use Dragon Breath!" Christine called as she raised her wrist.

Suddenly the keystone in Christine's bracelet began to glow, as did the Mega Stone in Altaria's collar. Suddenly Altaria's body gave off a dazzling flash of pink light, fading to reveal the bird in a new form. Its body had become a much lighter shade of blue. The cloud-like feathers covering its torso had vanished, while the feathers covering its wings had grown bigger and had taken on a glittering sheen. A collar of feathers had grown around the bird's neck, and a hat-like crest of feathers covered the top of its head. The five streamer-like feathers of its tail had merged into a single long streamer, and five massive points of cloud-like feathers grew from around its rear end like a star. As Altaria's transformation finished, a multicolored light in the shape of a DNA helix briefly flashed above its head.

As soon as her transformation finished, Altaria breathed out a stream of pink flames that struck Darkrai in the chest and created a small explosion. The smoke soon cleared though to reveal a five-foot tall bipedal fox with grey and black fur and red claws. Atop its head was a large mound of red and black fur that was tied into a ponytail by a large round teal gem. The beast snickered at the reveal of its true identity.

"So it was really Zoroark that Marie had sent out," Ash realized. "It was using its Illusion ability to look like Darkrai."

"That's the same trick she used in that battle we had at my gym," Elesa recalled.

"Use Night Daze!" Marie commanded.

Zoroark's eyes began to glow blue and his body gave off a massive crimson aura that formed cracks on the ground. The monster fox then raised his arms in the air above his head, only to swing them back down hard, sending a massive wave of crimson energy towards Altaria. The end of the wave shot upward like a geyser and nearly knocked the bird dragon out of the sky. When the attack ended though, Altaria seemed to take little damage.

"Fight back with Hyper Voice!" Skyla commanded.

Altaria let out an echoing cry of its angelic voice that formed into a massive pink sound wave that shot across the battlefield. Zoroark was hit hard by the wave and fell to one knee.

"Hey. That attack seemed like it did more damage than it should've," Ash realized.

"That's thanks to Mega Altaria's ability," Skyla explained. "In its current form, Altaria has an ability called Pixelate, which boosts the power of Normal-Type moves like Hyper Voice and changes them into Fairy-Type attacks. Not only that, Altaria's type changes from Dragon and Flying to Dragon and Fairy, which makes the attacks converted by its Pixelate ability much more powerful."

"Skyla, you know about Mega Evolution?" Misty asked.

"Sky and I have quite a bit of experience with Mega Evolution," Elesa answered, displaying her bracelet with the keystone. "We learned about it during a trip we took to Kalos once."

"I had thought about getting the Mega Stone for my Altaria, but decided against it when I found out about the type change," Skyla added. "Anyway, it looks like your other friend has Marie there at a major disadvantage."

"Finish it, Altaria!" Christine commanded. "Use Take Down!"

Altaria flew towards Zoroark at full speed as her wings started to glow with a dazzling pink light. The bird dragon rammed into Zoroark's chest and knocked him onto his side. Zoroark tried to get up, only to fall unconscious a second later.

"That was impressive," Marie admitted while calling back Zoroark and taking out another pokeball. "Of course I'm far from done. Go Hydreigon!"

Flying out of Marie's Pokeball was a three-headed dragon that was black with a blue underside. It had six black wings that looked like streamers of tattered cloth. All three of its faces were blue, and around each of its necks were what could be described as fuchsia-colored flower petals. The dragon hovered in the air and its two legs had regressed into simple stocks.

"Use Swagger!" Marie commanded.

Hydreigon began to glow with a sinister red aura and hissed at Altaria. A second later, Altaria's eyes began to glow with a red light.

"Your Altaria's attack has gone up, but now she's confused," Marie told Christine.

"That's not going to stop me!" Christine declared. "Altaria, use Take Down once more!"

Altaria flew towards Hydreigon as her wings started to glow with a pink light once more. Just as the bird dragon got in striking range though, Hydreigon flew to the right above the water of the pool and easily dodged the attack. Altaria then went drastically off course and rammed into the floor of the ship instead.

"Finish it with Flash Cannon!" Marie commanded.

As Altaria struggled to get back up, Hydreidon turned around and fired beams of a blinding silver light from all three of his heads down at her. All three blasts struck Altaria in the back, knocking her out and reverting her back to her original form.

Marie let out a sinister chuckle as Christine called Altaria back to her ball. "Did you really think I wouldn't have a measure or two prepared in the event I came up against a Fairy-Type Pokemon? Still, you seem to have gotten much better at battling since the last time I faced you."

"Go Ninetales!" Christine called as she tossed out another pokeball.

Bursting from the thrown ball was a large fox covered in a shimmering coat of bluish-white fur that seemed to give it an almost ethereal quality. It had nine tails covered in wavy white fur that almost seemed to resemble an aurora, and long wavy tuft of fur covered the top of the fox's head. The eyes of the fox were colored a deep ice blue.

"Whoa! That Ninetales is beautiful!" Misty remarked.

"Yeah. I've never seen one that looks like that before," Lisa responded.

"Christine's Ninetales comes from the Alola Region," Bolt informed them. "The Ninetales that come from there are a bit different from the ones found in the other parts of the world."

"Use Ice Beam!" Christine commanded.

Ninetales opened her mouth and fired a white electrical beam that struck Hydreigon in the chest. A large patch of ice formed where the beam had hit. Marie was taken aback by the attack, while both Ash and Misty were visibly stunned. Skyla and Elesa were both visibly surprised as well. Lisa meanwhile stood frozen in total shock, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open wide enough for a plane to land inside.

Bolt simply chuckled. "That's about the same way my friends and I reacted the first time we saw that happen. I told ya, they grow Ninetales differently over in Alola."

"My Ninetales is an Ice and Fairy-Type, the worst kind of Pokemon your Hydreigon could face!" Christine declared. "Ninetales! Attack with Dazzling Gleam!"

Ninetales cried out and a dazzling sphere of multicolored light formed around her body. The arctic fox charged towards Marie's dragon and leapt into the air towards it. Before Hydreigon could get out of the way, Ninetales rammed into his chest with all her strength and nearly knocked him into the floor of the ship, shattering the ice covering the dragon's chest in the process.

After a moment, Marie suddenly burst into a maniacal and almost insane laugh. "You really caught me off guard there. But you've forgotten that my Hydreigon has the worst type of attack your Ninetales can face. Use Flash Cannon!"

Hydreigon recovered from the hit it had just taken from the last attack and rose back into the air. He then moved around to the left and blasted Ninetales with three beams of silver light from all three of his mouths. The force of the attack knocked Ninetales near the edge of the pool.

"Now finish it with Flamethrower!" Marie commanded.

Hydreigon breathed out streams of flame from all three of his mouths that united into a single blast of fire. Before she could get out of the way, Ninetales was hit in the side and knocked into the pool. The fox Pokemon floated in the water unconscious.

"You really have improved a great deal since the last time we battled," Marie remarked as Christine called back Ninetales. "You might be just as strong as I thought you were."

"I'm finishing you off right here and now!" Christine declared as she tossed out another pokeball. "Go Meloetta!"

Emerging from the thrown ball was a small semi-humanoid creature with a very feminine figure. She had a large almost ovular head with big green eyes and long mint-green hair that looked like music bars with notes flowing down the left side of her. On the right side of the creature's head there was what looked like a black headset microphone that resembled a treble clef. Much of her body looked to be covered in a black dress with a long skirt that opened in front to reveal a pair of thin white legs. Across her midriff was something that looked like a green sash.

"Oh wow! She really has a Meloetta?" an amazed Elesa asked.

"I've only heard about that Pokemon in stories," Skyla remarked.

"Oh yes. I forgot that you had that Pokemon," Marie spoke. "Of course Meloetta is the worst kind of Pokemon you could've chosen to use against me."

"Think again!" Christine responded. "Meloetta, use Relic Song!"

Meloetta sang out a beautiful melody at the top of her lungs, and suddenly she became enveloped in a sphere of pink light. Inside the sphere, Meloetta began twirling around on her toes at an amazing speed. At the same time, Hydreigon suddenly became drowsy and softly landed on the ground. In seconds, the three-headed dragon was sound asleep. Soon after, the sphere around Meloetta shattered to reveal her in a new form.

Meloetta's hair had turned from green to auburn and had spiraled up on top of her head into a sort of bun. The treble clef microphone that had been on the side of her head had moved as well to become a hair ornament. Meloetta's eyes had turned auburn as well, as did the sash around her midriff. The four parts of her skirt had risen up like the petals of a flower to show off her thin legs.

"What kind of attack was that?" Ash asked.

"That's Meloetta's signature move, Relic Song," Bolt explained. "It allows Meloetta to change to a different form. A couple weeks ago, my friend Quinton found out about the move and helped Christine teach it to Meloetta."

"Relic Song has the power to put the opposing Pokemon to sleep," Christine informed Marie. "More importantly though, it changes Meloetta from a Normal and Psychic-Type to a Normal and Fighting-Type! Meloetta! Attack Hydreigon with Close Combat!"

Meloetta twirled around on her toes and moved towards the sleeping Hydreigon like a top. When the dancer Pokemon got in range, she repeatedly struck the dragon with a quick succession of kicks. The last kick woke Hydreigon back up, only to knock him out again and render him totally unable to battle.

"Wow! That attack from Meloetta was pretty powerful," Misty observed. "I would've thought it'd have taken more than that to beat Marie's Hydreigon."

"Well Hydreigon had already taken a lot of damage from Christine's Ninetales," Ash pointed out. "Still, I think Meloetta is probably going to give Marie some trouble."

"I can't believe you think that you and I are anything alike," Christine remarked as Marie called back Hydreigon. "You and I aren't alike at all! The way you acted before when fighting my Ninetales proves it!"

Marie shook her head. "So quick to judge, when you know hardly anything about my past. Did you even stop to wonder why I was even working for a group like Team Rocket in the first place?"

"No, but why should that matter?" Christine asked.

"…Like you, I came from a fairly wealthy family," Marie began. "I had a father who loved me and a friend who meant more to me than anything in the world. But around the time I turned ten, just before I was to set off on a journey to become a Pokemon trainer, my bastard of an older cousin, Andre framed me for stealing a priceless relic and had me sent to a prison that was a literal hell on earth, all so that he could get me out of the way take over my father's company later on. He had everyone believing that I was a criminal, even my darling Lisa."

"Wait a minute, Andre?" Elesa spoke. "Does she mean Andre Dantes in Lilycove City?"

"That's right, Elesa. I'm talking about the same dear friend that you mentioned that day I showed up at your gym all those years ago!" Marie confirmed, startling Elesa. At that moment, Marie was looking at Elesa with eyes that were burning with a rage that sent a chill down the model's spine. After a moment though, Marie managed to compose herself and turned her attention back to Christine. "The time I spent at that prison for a crime I didn't do was nothing but misery. By day I toiled in a suffocating heat, and by night I was plagued by constant nightmares.

"Under different circumstances, I probably would've died in that hellhole, but by a strange twist of fate I obtained two Pokemon that changed my life. One was the little Zorua that would later evolve into my Zoroark. My little friend had allowed me to retain my sanity and brought a small spark of joy into my life. The other Pokemon was the very source of my nightmares… the Pokemon I'll use against you now! Go Darkrai!"

Marie tossed out a pokeball with a purple top that was decorated with two pink spots and a small white letter M. The ball burst open that the real Darkrai emerged. The appearance of the nightmare Pokemon caused Meloetta to tense up.

"It turned out that Darkrai had been living under the prison for years, using his power to cause nightmares to add to the suffering of the prisoners," Marie continued. "Unfortunately that included me, but Darkrai had realized that I was not a true criminal and tried to take care of me. In short, he became as dear a friend to me as Zoroark. Then by another twist of fate, the same twist that had allowed me to capture Darkrai, the leader of Team Rocket showed up at the prison. He had come because of the rumored legends that Darkrai lived under the place. Something about me impressed him, and he offered me a chance to join his organization. Seeing it as the only way out of the prison, I took him up on his offer.

"Of course I had merely traded one hell for another. I despised joining a group like Team Rocket, but I had no other choice. So to survive in my new role, I reinvented myself as the monster you see me as. The only things that kept me going during those times were my Pokemon, the rage I had towards my bastard cousin, and the slight chance that one day I'd be able to expose him and make him pay for what he did to me. And I had been able to make my cousin pay not long ago, which is why I'm able to stand before you today, unmasked."

"I knew that Andre was sent to jail for some sort of crime… but I had no idea it was anything like this," a stunned Elesa spoke.

"He also tried to use Kyogre to drown the world in order to make it into his own twisted kingdom," Ash darkly informed her. "Marie wasn't exaggerating when she called him a bastard."

"Marie, I… I do feel sorry for what you've been though," Christine told her. "But that doesn't excuse the things you've done! The way you've used that Darkrai of yours to attack people! Meloetta, attack with Close Combat!"

"Dark Void!" Marie commanded.

With incredible speed, Darkrai raised formed a ball of black energy between his hands. Just as Meloetta began to spin towards him like a top, Darkrai fired the ball and struck the dancer before she could get halfway towards him. Meloetta suddenly fell to the ground asleep. She then began to convulse and moan as if in the grips of a horrible nightmare.

"Do you know what one of the major aspects of hell is Christine?" Marie asked. "It's that you'll do absolutely anything to get out of it. You'll lie, cheat, steal, even betray your closest friends or kill if it means even a slight chance of ending the torment. I joined Team Rocket so that I could escape the hell that was that prison, and I did the things I did as Noir Mask so I could at least survive the other hell I had walked into by maintaining the role I had made for myself. But I think you know very well about this aspect of hell, since you've been through a hell of your own.

"I have a pretty good idea of the kind of life you've lived not too long ago, both from what you and Bolt told me and the others last night, and from my own knowledge of Richter Chase and your father. I'm sure that you were eventually at a place where you would've done anything to escape that life."

"I told you! I didn't mean for what happened with that Jirachi to happen!" Christine told her.

"Of course. You managed to escape your hell by the same strange sort of twists of fate that allowed me to get out of my hell," Marie replied. "But be honest with yourself Christine. If you hadn't encountered Jirachi that night, wouldn't you have been at a place where you would've done absolutely anything to get away from Richter or your father? Maybe you would've had your Pokemon attack them, or maybe you would've simply gotten your hands on a gun and shot one or both of them."

Marie's last comment really struck a cord with Christine and caused her to flinch. Right before the incident with Jirachi, she was heading for a place where she just might've done one of the things Marie had mentioned.

"Quite honestly, I didn't think you'd have the strength to do such a thing," Marie continued. "Back when we fought in Pallet Town, I thought you were more the type to simple surrender to your hell and let it crush and consume you completely, but it seems that I was wrong. Maybe that strength was always inside of you and I didn't realize it. In any case, it no longer really matters at this point. What we've both been through is now in the past, and now we must both move on from it. And on that note, I think it's time we end this battle. Darkrai, finish it with Dream Eater!"

Darkrai raised his arms towards Meloetta, who was still writing on the ground asleep. A pink energy began to flow from Meloetta into Darkrai. After a few moments, Meloetta's eyes snapped open, and she cried out in terror before losing consciousness again and reverting back to her original form. The battle was finally at an end.

Marie called Darkrai back to his ball and yawned as she put her sunglasses back on. "Well, that was rather exhausting. I think after I get Zoroark and Hydreigon taken care of at the ship's Pokemon Center, I'll go back to my quarters to take a nap." She then noticed the look of shock frozen on Lisa's face and went over to her. "Lisa darling, is everything okay?"

"That… that Ninetales. It… it used an Ice Beam," Lisa spoke as if Marie wasn't even there. "It used an Ice-Type attack. It's supposed to be a Fire Pokemon, but it…"

"She's been like that ever since Christine's Ninetales launched its first attack," Skyla informed Marie as Lisa continued to ramble. "I think it was a little too much for her to take."

"I think I can understand how Lisa feels," Misty interjected. "I'd probably react the same way if I saw a Psyduck or a Lapras use Flamethrower."

Marie couldn't help but chuckle. "Well this is just too precious." She gently shook Lisa by the shoulder. "Darling? Can you hear me?"

After a moment Lisa finally registered Marie's presence, but still had a look of total shock on her face. "Marie? You saw that Ninetales right? I'm not crazy, right? It… it used an Ice Beam attack and… and…"

"Yes, yes. I know dear," Marie responded as she wrapped an arm around Lisa's and began to lead her away from the others. "Let's just get you back to our quarters and out of this hot sun so you can lie down. I'm sure you'll be better after a nice long nap."

Meanwhile, Christine had already called back Meloetta and had gone over to Bolt. "Bolt, you knew about Marie's other identity the whole time, didn't you?"

Bolt let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah. I had been trying to figure out the right way to tell you about it ever since we ran into Marie and the others back at the port. If it makes you feel better though, I haven't told Lorain or any of the guys in the band that Marie used to be Noir Mask either."

"And you really do consider her to be one of your friends?" Christine asked.

"Marie's actually a really kind person," Bolt told her. "Of course what she's been through thanks to that cousin of hers has left her a little messed up, but she's not the psycho she pretended to be when we ran into her before. Actually, they should throw Marie a parade, because when she finally got revenge on her cousin, she took down both Team Rocket and Team Aqua in the process."

"Then I guess… maybe Marie and I are more alike than I thought," Christine assumed. "She wasn't wrong before. Back when you found me again right after I made that wish to Jirachi, I told you that I would done anything to make the abuse from both Richter and my father stop, even killed them if it came to it."

"I know," Bolt responded as he pulled her into a hug. "Like Marie said at the end though, what you've been through is over now. Now c'mon. Let's get your Pokemon treated and get a bite to eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starved."

* * *

It was fairly late at night as Lisa sat on the bed in her and Marie's quarters, dressed only in a pair of panties and the black t-shirt she usually wore as sleep ware. Marie at that moment was in the bathroom taking a shower. Lisa had gotten over the shock of seeing Christine's Ninetales in action hours ago, though the idea of an Ice-Type Ninetales was still all kinds of weird. At that moment though, Christine's Ninetales was far from Lisa's mind. She was more focused on what Marie had gone though earlier that day with Christine.

Lisa soon heard the water from Marie's shower turn off. A second later the sound of the shower's door opening could be heard.

"Marie?" Lisa called.

"Yes Lisa?" Marie's voice responded through the partly open door.

"Are you doing okay?" Lisa asked.

"Whatever do you mean?" Marie responded.

"I mean… rehashing your past with Christine like that," Lisa explained. "That can't have been easy. Then running into the Nimbasa City gym leader again after all these years on top of that? That can't have been easy."

"Well, I'll admit that the whole situation was rather uncomfortable," Marie responded. "But you know me. I'm a survivor. What I'm sorry about though is that you had to learn these details about my dark past this way. Honestly… ever since we ran into Hanson and Christine at the port, I can't help but wonder if you've started to think less of me."

At that moment, Lisa got off the bed and removed her t-shirt, freeing her naked breasts. After tossing her t-shirt away, the raven-haired girl removed her panties and tossed them towards the same corner of the room. Marie finally emerged from the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her and stopped cold when she saw Lisa standing before her.

"I don't care at all about what you did in your past," Lisa told Marie as she walked over to her and placed a hand on her cheek. "Nothing you've done could ever change how I feel about you."

A small tear came to Marie's eye. She let the towel wrapped around her drop to the floor and met Lisa in a passionate embrace. Both of them moaned at the contact of each other's bare skin before meeting in a deep passionate kiss, their tongues grinding against each other in a sensual dance. They somehow moved over to the bed, and when their lungs forced them to part for air, Lisa pushed Marie down onto it. Lisa got on top of the blonde, and they shared a deep yet brief kiss before Lisa began to crawl down the length of Marie's body.

Lisa stopped at Marie's chest and began to kiss and suck on her right breast while her hand toyed with the left, causing soft moans of pleasure to escape from Marie's throat. Eventually Lisa parted from Marie's breasts and left a fiery trail of kisses down the length of the blonde's stomach. Then at last, Lisa reached Marie's waist and began to probe her lover's opening with her tongue. Marie gasped and arched her back before letting out a deep moan. Marie used her right hand to hold Lisa's head in place while her left hand gripped the sheets of the bed beneath her.

Over time, Marie could feel herself getting close to the edge. The knuckles of her left had turned white as her grip on the sheets tightened. Then in one blissful moment Marie climaxed, calling out Lisa's name at the top of her lungs. As Marie came down from her orgasm, Lisa crawled back up the length of Marie's body and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"…Get on your side with your back to me," Marie requested in a husky whisper.

Smiling, Lisa did just as Marie had asked. Marie then got on her side and pressed her chest against Lisa's back. The blonde's hand then came around from behind and inserted a pair of fingers into Lisa's womanhood. Lisa let out a deep moan as Marie's fingers began pumping into her. At the same time, Marie had begun to kiss and suck on the back of Lisa's neck. Gradually Marie picked up the pace of her hand, and eventually she could feel Lisa's inner walls tightening around her fingers.

"That's right, darling," Marie whispered into Lisa's ear. "Cum for me."

A few moments later, Lisa finally came to a hard climax, a silent scream escaping her lips. As she came down from her high, Lisa turned back and gave Marie another deep kiss on the lips. A few moments later, Marie sat up and pushed a compliant Lisa onto her back. Taking hold of Lisa's leg, Marie positioned herself so that her opening was pressed against Lisa's and began to grind into her, slowly at first. As Marie gradually picked up the pace, she couldn't help but be mesmerized by the bouncing of the raven-haired girl's breasts underneath her.

"Oh god! You're so beautiful!" Marie called out as she bucked her hips even harder. "Cum with me darling!"

Lisa could only respond by gripping the sheets underneath her even tighter. Over time, both their bodies became covered in sweat. Then finally in the same glorious moment, the two of them came to a hard climax. Marie got off Lisa and collapsed onto the bed beside her. After they had both finally caught their breath, Lisa pulled the blanket over them both and turned onto her side to gaze at Marie. Marie turned onto her side to face her.

"Lisa… I'm going to tell you about it all," Marie softly spoke. "About everything I went though during my time as Noir Mask."

"You don't have to do that," Lisa told her.

"But I want to," Marie replied. "And you deserve to know. Besides, aren't you the least bit curious?"

"Well… I have been kind of wondering about what happened at the Nimbasa Gym ever since Ash told me about it earlier today," Lisa admitted. "Just who was this Bianca girl that you teamed up with?"

Marie couldn't help but let out a little chuckle. "You don't have to worry about anything having happened between me and Bianca. For one thing, she was hardly my type. A bit of an airhead, though not as dense as that May Wilson."

"So then what happened between the two of you?" Lisa asked. "How the two of you even meet?"

"I suppose that's as good a place as any to start regarding my dark past," Marie began. "Let's see… it all started one night in Nimbasa City. At the time I was on a mission to deal with a man who had embezzled money from Team Rocket named Edger Blackwater…"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I hoped everyone reading enjoyed the latest installment of this story. I had actually been debating with myself quite a bit about whether or not to include my two favorite Unova gym leaders in this thing. What made me decide to have Elesa and Skyla show up here is the fact that they and Christine are going to show up together in Reign of Silver as well at this point, and I wanted to get the social awkwardness of the three of them finding out about Marie's past as Noir Mask out of the way here so that it wouldn't hold up or get mixed in with all the other stuff that'll happen in Reign of Silver. Of course this means that Elesa and Skyla will get their own episode in this story, and some of it will sort of circle back to some of the stuff that happened in this one. The next episode though will focus more Bolt and Christine as they awkwardly try to take their relationship to the next level, and I think I may have said too much just now.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. Stone Thunder

**Author's Note:** I wasn't sure for a while if I was going to be able to post this next episode this week since was having a little trouble writing a few parts of it. I had a good grasp of what I wanted to happen at the beginning and at the end, but I was having a fairly hard time figuring out what should happen in between. I apologize in advance if this episode isn't my best work, but I hope that it's at least entertaining.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Episode 3: Stone Thunder

Another two days had gone by as the S.S. Aqua continued its journey to Steam Heat Island. That afternoon, Ash headed into the ship's bar with Pikachu and Lucario. Earlier, Ash had gotten a note from Bolt asking him to meet there to discuss something important. Not seeing any sign of Bolt, Ash headed up to the bar with his two Pokemon companions to wait for him. Ash took his seat, not noticing that there was someone approaching him from behind.

"Hey there, Ash," a familiar voice spoke. Ash turned his stool around to see that it was Lisa.

"Oh! Hi," Ash responded. "What brings you in here?"

"I followed you in here hoping for a quick battle, actually," Lisa replied. "In fact I was hoping to have my Blaziken face your Lucario's Mega Evolution. I was in that restaurant when you clobbered Christine's ex-boyfriend back at the port, so I missed seeing him in action."

"I'd be glad to battle you, but first I need to meet with Bolt," Ash replied. "He sent me a note saying he had something important to talk to me about."

"Well, well. We meet again," another familiar voice spoke.

The two looked to see Elesa walking up. The gym leader model had on a sleeveless white jacket with a hood lined with black fur, over a black top that showed her midriff, along with a short white skirt and a wide black belt with a gold buckle. The rest of her outfit consisted of a pair of knee-high white boots and fingerless white gloves.

"Oh. Hi Elesa," Ash asked.

"By the way, I have an old friend who I'm sure your dazzling little Pikachu will like meeting again," Elesa spoke before tossing out a pokeball.

Bursting out of the ball was a rodent that looked very much like Pikachu only larger. Much of its body was orange and its belly was white. Its arms and legs were mainly black and it had a pair of black-rimmed fin-like ears that were yellow on the inside. The rodent's tail was like a long black cord that ended in a large lightning bolt-shaped blade with a flat tip.

"You remember my darling Raichu, don't you?" Elesa asked.

"Yeah… hard to forget her," Ash responded with a heavy sigh, remembering the odd double battle he had years ago with Elesa and Skyla in Black City.

Raichu wrapped her cable-like tail around Pikachu's body and pulled him in close before planting a firm kiss on the smaller rodent's lips, causing Pikachu's face to turn bright red. Lucario looked on with wide eyes.

"Chu rai rai chu chu," Raichu spoke in a husky whisper before letting Pikachu go, causing Pikachu's face to turn an even more brilliant shade of crimson.

"I see they're picking up right where they left off," Elesa observed.

"Hey Ash? I think you might want to have Pikachu be careful around that Pokemon," Lisa whispered to Ash. "I could be wrong, but I think that Raichu might be a sexual predator of some kind."

"That's nothing. You should meet my Serperior sometime," Ash whispered back.

At that moment, Bolt arrived. "Ash my man, thanks for agreeing to meet with me."

"No problem Bolt," Ash replied. "So what it is you wanted to talk with me about?"

"Oh, well… it's kind of personal," Bolt told him, nervously looking from Lisa to Elesa. "About me and Christine."

"Ah! Well, I know guy talk when I hear it," Elesa responded. "Lisa, I think we should give these two some space."

"Yeah. I don't think I want any part of this conversation," Lisa agreed.

With that, Lisa and Elesa excused themselves. Raichu gave Pikachu a very seductive wink before quickly dashing off after Elesa. Pikachu stood frozen, his face red as a tomato. Lucario waved a paw in front of Pikachu's face to see if he was still on earth.

"So what's up?" Ash asked Bolt as the blonde rocker sat down on the bar stool next to him.

"Well, I kinda need some advice from another guy, and you're the only guy on this ship I know well enough to talk to," Bolt began. "You see… I'd like to take my relationship with Christine to the next level, but I'm having some issues."

"What do you mean the next level?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You know… get more intimate," Bolt answered. Ash still looked at him with a clueless look, causing him to let out a heavy sigh. "Sex, man! Sex!"

"Oh!" Ash responded. "Okay. So… you and Christine haven't… done it yet?"

"Nah. It's not like we don't want to though," Bolt replied. "But every time it seems like we're about to make the leap, we both pull away."

"What do you think the problem is?" Ash asked.

"Well… I think the problem is Richter," Bolt answered. "I can't help but think that he and Christine got it on before."

"So… you're afraid that Christine is going to compare your performance to his or something?" Ash asked.

"What? No!" Bolt told him. "Well, I'll admit that thought did cross my mind once for like a second. But I'm more concerned about how the bastard treated her in bed. You do know that the guy was abusive."

"Oh yeah," Ash responded, realizing what an idiot he was about his earlier assumption. "So then, do you think that's why Christine's been backing out?"

"Don't think that hasn't crossed my mind," Bolt answered. "But that's what's been causing me to hesitate. The last thing I want is to hurt Christine more than she already has been."

"I totally understand," Ash replied "Well… I'm sure when Christine's finally ready take things to the next level, she'll let you know."

"Yeah. You're probably right. Just let her make the first move," Bolt replied. He then glanced down and noticed that Lucario had lifted a totally rigid Pikachu into the air and was shaking him. "Hey, is Pikachu okay? The little guy's as stiff as a board. Plus he's got this stunned on his face."

"Oh yeah. Elesa sent out her Raichu earlier to 'say hi' to him," Ash explained. "I think she might've came onto him a little too strongly. Wonder if I should have Nurse Joy take a look at him?"

Bolt chuckled. "Nah man. I'm sure he'll be fine in a bit. The little guy's just been dazzled."

"Okay, well… guess I should meet back up with Lisa so we can have that battle she wanted," Ash decided as he got up from the barstool. "Let's go Lucario."

Lucario nodded and followed after Ash, carrying a still rigid Pikachu under his arm like a football. Bolt stayed behind and asked the bartender to fetch him a drink. As the bartender prepared his order, an older gentleman with tan skin and white hair, wearing a blue polo shirt and baggy tan shorts walked up to him from behind.

"Excuse me, young man," the older gentleman spoke, causing Bolt to turn around. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to do me a favor."

"Depends. What is it you want?" Bolt asked.

"Well first of all, my name is Marco," the old man answered. "I'm looking to make trade with someone for an Emolga to give to my granddaughter. That Pokemon is a bit hard to find where I come from, you see. Anyway, I met a very attractive-looking woman a few moments ago outside the bar, and while she did have an Emolga she said she wasn't willing to trade it. But she did tell me that you had one that you might be willing to trade me."

"I do have an Emolga with me," Bolt admitted. "I've never used the little guy in battle much. Actually, I've mostly used him to help get dates. Since I'm in a pretty serious relationship now though, I guess I might be willing to part with him. What Pokemon do you have in mind to trade for?"

"Well I have a Graveler that's actually quite strong," Marco answered.

"I'm afraid I'll have to pass then," Bolt told him. "I'm strictly an Electric Pokemon user. Using a Rock and Ground-Type would go totally against my image."

At this, Marco laughed. "If that's all you're worried about, then I've got good news for you. You see my Graveler isn't like the kind you see around most parts of the world. Tell me young man, have you ever been to the Alola Region before?"

* * *

Misty was standing out on the deck of the ship looking out over the ocean. As a Water Pokemon trainer, Misty greatly enjoyed being out at sea, and it seemed like she didn't see it often enough. As Misty took in the view of the ocean, Christine suddenly approached her from behind.

"Misty? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Christine asked, getting her attention. "I sort of need your advice."

"Sure. What is it?" Misty asked.

"Well… it's about me and Bolt," Christine began. "God! You're going to think it's stupid."

"It's okay. I won't judge," Misty assured her.

"Okay," Christine responded before taking a deep breath. "I want to take my relationship with Bolt to the next level."

"Oh," Misty responded. "So you and he haven't actually…"

"No. Not yet," Christine answered as she shook her head. "It's not for lack of trying, at least not for me. But it seems like we finally get close to… consummating our love, we sort of both back out at the last second."

"Well why are you backing away?" Misty asked.

"Um… I guess you could call it performance anxiety," Christine answered. "You see I'm afraid I won't be good enough to satisfy Bolt because… I'm a virgin."

"Really?" Misty asked, blinking in surprise. "You mean you and Richter never…?"

Christine shook her head. "Thankfully, my father forbade Richter from taking me to his bed until after we were married. But anyway, I know that Bolt is probably more… experienced than I am."

"You are right about that," Misty admitted with a sigh. "Bolt's had at least a few romantic conquests over the years."

"I don't blame Bolt for that. I mean I did essentially dump him all those years ago back in Viridian City," Christine continued. "Still… I can't help but worry that I won't be good enough for him since I've never done it with anyone before. In fact I can't help but wonder if that's the reason he's been pulling away. I must sound like a dumb teenager, huh?"

"Christine, I'm sure that Bolt isn't going to compare you to any of his past lovers," Misty told her. "He did come on strong to girls he liked. Heck, he even tried making a move on Lisa and I the first time we met. But he's not that much of a scumbag."

"Yeah. I know you're right. Still… I can't help but feel nervous about taking this step with Bolt," Christine replied.

"But do you think you're ready to?" Misty asked.

Christine looked out over the ocean. "Yes… I think I am."

"Then don't hesitate," Misty told her. "If you're absolutely sure, just dive in. I was a bit nervous in the beginning the first Ash and I made love, but I didn't hesitate because I wanted to be closer to him… to try and become one with him. So I just dove in. You understand?"

"Yes… yes I do," Christine answered. "I'm not going to be afraid anymore. Tonight… I'm going to give myself to Bolt."

"Well hello there, ladies," a voice spoke.

Misty and Christine turned around, and standing before them was a tall and rather handsome young man in his mid twenties. He was rather muscular, with tan skin and long flowing black hair that grew down just past his shoulders. His teeth seemed to actually twinkle when he flashed the two a smile. The young man had on a buttoned white shirt with long baggy sleeves and the top few buttons undone to show off his shaved muscular chest, along with long tight-fitting black pants and black boots. A small gold earing decorated his right ear, and he had on a red sash around his waist in place of a belt.

"Who're you?" Misty asked.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Don Luis Valmont," the young man spoke. "But you may call me Val. Might I have the pleasure of knowing who you are?"

"Well, I'm Misty," the redhead answered.

"And I'm Christine," the brown-haired girl replied. "Christine Wyler."

"Ah! Yes, I have heard of you," Val spoke as he suddenly took Christine's hand. "Your stunning beauty and your heavenly singing voice are known in certain circles. It is a privilege to make your acquaintance."

"Um, thank you," Christine replied with a slight blush.

"I had also heard that you were to be married to a brutish young man named Richter Chase," Val recalled. "Is it true that you have become his bride?"

"Actually, my marriage to Richter is pretty much off," Christine admitted.

"Really? How fortunate then!" Val declared. "I'm certain that it is destiny that we have met. My dear Christine, it would be a privilege if you would spend the night with me. I will treat you like a queen. We can start with an elegant dinner, and afterwards I will show you pleasures unlike anything you've ever dreamed of."

"Well… I'm flattered, but I actually have another boyfriend already," Christine told him as she pulled her hand away.

"Come now, my fair Christine," Val responded as he suddenly pulled her close. "You cannot deny the winds of fate that has blown us together, nor the attraction that you have towards me! I can see in your eyes that you have fallen for me, though you would not be the first. Do not deny your passion!"

"Hey!" a voice called. Christine and the others looked to see Bolt had shown up. "Take your hands off my girlfriend, you son of a bitch!"

"Ah-ha! You must be the boyfriend that Christine had mention," Val deduced as he let Christine go. "I am Don Luis Valmont! Who may I ask are you?"

"I'm the badass rocker of Sinnoh, Bolt Hanson," the blonde rock star replied.

"A rock musician? I astounds me that a woman as elegant and refined as Christine could fall for someone like you," Val told him. "Someone could only hold her back from the kind of life she deserves. I am the kind of man that she needs to make her happy."

"Like hell!" Bolt shot back. "Now get away from her before I throw you off the boat!"

"Well… I can see that there's only one civilized way to settle this," Val decided. "I challenge you to a battle! If you win, I shall take my leave. That satisfactory to you?"

"Fine. There's nothing I'd like more than to kiss your ass," Bolt agreed.

"Then let us take this to the arena towards the back of the ship," Val suggested. "That will be the best place for our duel."

* * *

Despite what Bolt had said, Ash had taken Pikachu to the ship's Pokemon Center to get him checked out. After Nurse Joy had found that there was nothing wrong with Pikachu, Ash met back up with Lisa and Marie, and the three of them headed for the arena at the ship's rear. As they walked, Lucario was still carrying the rigid electric rodent under his arm.

"I'm sure Pikachu will be okay," Lisa told Ash as they walked. "That Raichu of Elesa's though… boy."

"Yeah. And Skyla has a Salamence that's just as bad," Ash revealed.

"I take it you've had a bad experience with these Pokemon of there's before," Marie assumed.

"Years ago when I was heading to challenge the Unova League, Misty and I made a stop in Black City," Ash began. "Misty was fighting a bad cold, and I was trying to help my Charizard get over a breakup."

"Your Charizard got dumped?" Lisa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Long story," Ash replied. "Anyway, I'm on the roof of our hotel trying to cheer Charizard up, when suddenly Elesa and Skyla showed up and challenged me to a double battle. I beat them pretty hard when I took them on at their gyms before. Anyway, they sent out Raichu and Salamence to face Pikachu and Charizard. Both of their Pokemon knew Attract. After Charizard and Pikachu were hit by that, it was all over."

"Not your best day, huh?" Lisa assumed.

"Clearly they struck at you when you were at your weakest," Marie observed. "It seems those two aren't to be taken lightly."

At last the three made it to the small stadium at the rear of the ship, which was a dirt field with white lines painted on it. When Ash and the others arrived, they saw that Bolt and Val had taken their positions on the field and were getting ready to face off. Misty and Christine were standing off to the side to watch.

"Misty!" Ash called as he and the others came over. "What the heck's going on?"

"That guy Bolt is about to face hit on Christine, so now they're going to have a battle to settle things," Misty explained. She then noticed that Lucario was still carrying Pikachu around like a football. "What's wrong with Pikachu?"

"Oh. He met Elesa's Raichu again," Ash explained. "Apparently she was a little much for him. Nurse Joy says he'll be fine though."

Lisa meanwhile took a good look at Bolt's opponent. "Oh god! Is that Don Luis Valmont?"

"You know him?" Marie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I met him a couple times during the years I spent in Johto," Lisa explained. "The jerk hits on every beautiful woman he sees. He tells the ones that he really seems to like that it's destiny that they've met, but of course all he wants to do is get in their pants."

"And I take it he tried to add you to his list of conquests," Marie assumed.

Lisa nodded. "As if I'd ever be interested in the likes of him. Of course the two times I rejected him, he challenged me to a battle to try and win me over. Naturally I kicked his ass."

"Well hopefully Hanson will have just an easy a time with this scoundrel as you did," Marie responded.

"We'll do this as a two-on-two battle," Val told Bolt. "As a gentleman, I shall let you pick out a Pokemon to use first,"

"Fine with me," Bolt replied before tossing out a pokeball. "Let's rock Golem!"

Bursting out of the thrown ball with a thud was a fairly large creature with a spherical body covered in a shell flat dark-brown rock plates with a roughly hexagonal shape. Protruding from the front of the creature's body was a tan reptilian head with large eyes, thick black eyebrows, a large black mustache, and a long shaggy black beard that grew down to the front of its chest. On the sides of its body were two very short tan arms ending with two large white claws, and its body was supported by two short but thick legs that each had a foot with two large white claws. Jutting out the top of its body was a pair of large back rocks, each with a flat side on the inside edge with three golden-yellow dots. In between these two rocks protruded a third and much shorter black rock with a flat top.

A second after Golem emerged from its pokeball, Pikachu's body gave off small yellow sparks. The little rodent stirred and blinked before turning his head to look at the battlefield. Lucario noticed that Pikachu had finally revived and set him on the ground.

Pikachu looked at Golem and tilted his head. "Pika?"

"Bolt's using a Golem?" a surprised Ash asked. "But Golem's a Rock and Ground-Type!"

"Yeah. That'd be like if I used a Fire Pokemon," Misty declared.

"But this Golem… it looks much different from how a Golem normally looks," Christine noted.

"Pik…" Pikachu spoke, getting Ash's attention.

Ash looked down and saw Pikachu staring at Golem. "Welcome back buddy. Hey, are you sensing something funny about that Golem?"

Val let out a confident laugh. "A Golem, eh? Just the type of Pokemon I'd expect from a brute like you. But I have the perfect Pokemon to take it on. Go Hawlucha!"

Flying out of Val's thrown pokeball was a small bipedal bird with red cape-like wings with a green underside that connected to the feathers on its tail. Its muscular chest was red, while its stomach and legs were white. The bird's head had a green mask-like face with an orange stripe down the middle and orange lines around its yellow eyes. Protruding from the top of its head from its orange stripe were three small tassel-like feathers. The bird had a small red beak, and the underside of its jaw was white.

"My dashing Hawlucha is the worst kind of Pokemon your Golem could face!" Val declared. "Since he's a Flying-Type, he's immune to your Golem's Ground attacks, and Golem is at an even bigger disadvantage thanks to Hawlucha's Fighting-Type moves! There's no way you can win!"

"Golem! Hit that jerk's Pokemon with Wild Charge!" Bolt commanded.

Suddenly Golem's head and limbs retracted into its body, along with the rocks protruding from his top. The rock creature rolled towards Hawlucha like an oncoming boulder, and as it did its body began to give off bolts of yellow electricity. The sight caught Hawlucha off guard, and before he could get out of the way, Golem crashed right into him and caused a massive electrical flash before rolling right over the bird wrestler. As Golem stopped and his head and other appendages emerged from his shell, Hawlucha got back to his feet, though the bird's body was giving off small electrical sparks. Val, Ash and everyone else who had been watching were all stunned.

Bolt let out a small chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. "Wow! Okay… that was weird. Now I kinda get how Lisa felt when she saw Christine's Ninetales in action."

"What… what sort of trickery is this?" a shocked Val asked. "How can a Golem use an Electric attack like Wild Charge?"

"I just got this big guy in a trade for my Emolga from this old dude who's also on the ship," Bolt explained. "The guy comes from Alola, and as it turns out, all the Golem over there are Rock and Electric-Types."

"So that's why you reacted to Golem like that," Ash realized as he looked back down at Pikachu. "You must've sense the electricity that Golem's body must be giving off."

"Chu," Pikachu responded as he nodded and kept his eyes on the battle.

"Looks like I'm the one who really has the advantage in this fight," Bolt told Val.

"We shall see!" Val declared. "Hawlucha! Use Flying Press!"

Hawlucha leapt into the air and spread his wings. As he flew over the battlefield, his body began to give off a soft white aura. Hawlucha then dove down towards Golem and crashed into his top, creating a small explosion. A second later Hawlucha flipped backward out of the cloud of smoke and struck a pose. When the smoke cleared though, Golem was still standing.

"Not good enough!" Bolt declared. "Use Rock Blast!"

Golem bent forward and the dots decorating the inside of the rocks on the top of its body began to glow. The black stones crackled with yellow electricity, and suddenly the third black rock in the center was launched like a missile and struck Hawlucha in the chest. A second black rock reformed on Golem's body, only to be launched at Hawlucha again. Golem fired two more of these black rocks before Hawlucha fell to his back unconscious.

"It'll take more than that to beat me," Bolt declared as Val called back Hawlucha.

"I am far from finished," Val declared before tossing out another pokeball. "Go Roserade!"

Bursting out of the thrown ball was a small bipedal plant-like creature with a green body. It had a large head with white rose petals acting as its hair, and a dark-green mask covering the upper half of its fact. Hanging from its back was a dark-green leaf-like cape with a high collar and a gold bangle. It had red eyes with yellow lids and small yellow feet. Its right arm ended with a large bouquet of red roses, while its left arm ended with a bouquet of blue roses.

"Attack that brute with Petal Dance!" Val commanded.

Roserade suddenly began to spin like a top and head towards Golem. As the masked plant creature span around, glowing red and blue petals flew from his body and pelted Golem at high speed. Roserade span around Golem in a circle and continually struck him with the petal barrage. Eventually Golem fell to the ground with a thud and was unconscious. Roserade stopped in front of his fallen opponent, staggering a bit after his body had come to a full halt.

Val let out a triumphant laugh as Bolt called Golem back to his ball. "Clearly now you see that you are outclassed! There's no way an uncivilized oaf like you can defeat someone as dashing and elegant as me."

"I've had just about enough of you," Bolt declared before throwing out another pokeball. "Let's rock, Raikou!"

Bursting out of the thrown ball with a roar was a yellow saber-toothed cat with black stripes. It had red eyes, and over its nose was something that looked a blue X. A dark-grey crest covered its forehead, and on its back was a purple thundercloud that flowed like a cape. The beast's slender light-blue tail looked like a lightning bolt striking the ground.

Val went totally pale upon seeing the legendary beast. "Uh… where'd you get a Pokemon like that?"

"Use Thunder Bolt!" Bolt commanded.

Raikou let out another roar and zapped Roserade in the chest with a powerful bolt of yellow electricity, knocking him onto his back. After a moment, Roserade sat back up and rose back to his feet, only to stumble and fall flat onto his face.

With the battle clearly at an end, Bolt called Raikou back to its pokeball. "There! I beat ya! Now get lost! And if I ever see you near Christine again, I'm gonna throw you overboard!"

With that, Bolt went back over to Christine. "You okay? That scumbag didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"

"I'm fine," Christine assured him.

"C'mon. Let's get out of here," Bolt decided as he put an arm around Christine. "Fighting that creep has caused me to work up an appetite."

As Bolt and Christine left, Val regained his composure and called Roserade back to his ball. He then noticed Lisa standing over with Ash and the others, causing his lips to curve into a cocky smirk.

"Well hello there, my fair Lisa," Val spoke as he came over. "It is surely destiny that we meet here again like this. Surly you can't still deny the attraction you feel towards me now that fate has brought us together again."

"Dark Void!" Marie commanded.

Suddenly a small shadow darted out from behind Marie and fired a small ball of black energy up at Val. Val was struck in the chest and dropped to the ground in a deep sleep. As Val began to writhe on the floor in the grips of a nightmare, Darkrai rose out of the shadow on a pair of long stilt-like legs.

"When did you send Darkrai out?" a stunned Misty asked Lisa.

"Oh, he's been out since Lisa and I met up with Ash, hiding in my shadow," Marie revealed. "And don't worry, this piece of slime won't be out for long. Darkrai only used a small amount of his power on him."

"Can't say I feel sorry for the creep," Lisa remarked as she put an arm around Marie. "Ash, do you mind if we save our battle for tomorrow? Seeing Valmont again has ruined my mood."

"Sure," Ash agreed.

"How about we return to our quarters?" Marie suggested with a suggestive grin. "I have a few ideas on how I can improve your mood."

"Fine with me," Lisa agreed with a large grin before kissing Marie on the cheek.

As Marie and Lisa started to walk off, Darkrai receded back into the shadow that he had emerged from, which quickly darted back into Marie's shadow.

"I think I'll go for a swim," Misty decided.

"I'll join you," Ash responded as he, Pikachu and Lucario followed after her.

* * *

Night had fallen as the ship continued on its journey across the sea. In the quarters he shared with Christine, Bolt sat on the end of the bed with his shirt off as he tuned his guitar. His sunglasses rested on the nightstand. Christine at that moment was in the bathroom finishing her preparations for bed.

"Oh hey! Earlier I sent Quinton an email telling him about my new Alolan Golem," Bolt called to Christine as he got up and sat his guitar down on the nearby table. "He got back to me asking if he could run some sort of magnetic tests on it or something. You know, something I think we should really find that guy a girlfriend. What do you think?"

At that moment the bathroom door opened, and Christine walked out wearing nothing but a pair of black lace panties and a smile. Bolt was left totally speechless, and his pants had suddenly become uncomfortably tight.

"I want you, Bolt," Christine spoke as she walked over to him. "And tonight I've decided to give myself to you."

"Uh… Christine, are you sure?" Bolt asked. "I mean… I don't want to end up hurting you any more than you already have been."

"What do you mean?" Christine asked.

"Well… I'm guessing that the other times you've done this probably weren't that pleasant," Bolt explained.

"Bolt, I've never done this before with anyone," Christine told him.

"You mean you and Richter never…?" Bolt began to ask.

Christine shook her head. "My father forbade Richter from touching me like that until after we were married. I'm still a virgin, Bolt."

"Oh… so that's why it's seemed like you've been a bit skittish about doing this," Bolt realized.

"Well yes. In fact I've sort of been afraid that I won't be good enough for you," Christine admitted. "I mean… I know this isn't your first time doing this, so I apologize in advance if I'm not as good as the other women you've been with."

Bolt smiled and shook his head. "Babe, none of those other women could ever compare to you. And that's 'cause you're the only woman I've ever truly been in love with."

Christine smiled at Bolt as a small tear came to her eye. In moments they wrapped their arms around one another and their lips met in a passionate kiss, which quickly deepened and led to their tongues meeting in a sensual dance. Bolt's hand cupped and massaged Christine's left breast, causing her to moan into his mouth. When their lungs finally forced them to break apart for air, Christine undid the buckle of Bolt's belt. In a single motion she pulled down his pants and undergarments, freeing his erect manhood from its fabric prison.

The sight of Bolt's rod caused Christine's eyes to widen. "Oh… wow!"

"What's wrong?" Bolt asked, becoming a little concerned.

"Nothing. It's just… I didn't imagine it would be quite this big," Christine answered before biting her lower lip.

Bolt couldn't suppress the cocky grin that formed on his face. "Hey. Better for it to be bigger then you thought than smaller then you thought."

Bolt's comment caused Christine to chuckle a little. They met in another deep kiss and moved over towards the bed. Christine then removed her panties and tossed them away before Bolt gently pushed her down onto the bed and got on top of her. The two of them shared another deep kiss before Bolt pushed himself up. As soon as Christine signaled him with a nod, Bolt pushed his rod into Christine's womanhood.

Christine's eyes squeezed shut with the mixture of pleasure and pain that overcame her. Bolt went as slow as he possibly could, being careful not to push his rod the whole way in. It was taking him every once of restraint he had not to pound into her at full force. Eventually though, Christine's eyes opened back up and she left out a few soft moans of pleasure.

"I'm fine now, Bolt. You don't have to hold anything back now," Christine told him. "Do whatever you want with me. I'm all yours."

At this, Bolt inserted his rod all the way into Christine, causing her eyes to widen and her back to arch. The blonde rocker picked up the pace of his hips, though he still held back from going at full speed. He wanted to draw things out for as long as possible. Christine grabbed onto Bolt's shoulders and held on as her inner walls started to tighten around Bolt's manhood. Then at long last she climaxed, calling out Bolt's name.

Christine let go of Bolt's shoulders as she caught her breath. Bolt was far from done with her though. He pulled out of her, grabbed one of the extra pillows on the bed, and flipped a compliant Christine onto it so that her back half was elevated a bit. Before Christine could figure out what Bolt was doing, the blonde rocker reentered her womanhood from behind and got back over her before pounding into her as hard as he could. Christine moaned into the bed as Bolt continued to ram into her.

Over time as they continued their bodies became covered in sweat. Eventually Christine's inner walls tightened around Bolt's rod as he came close to the edge. Then in the same moment they came to a hard climax. Christine's vision went totally white as she felt a wave of heat shoot into her. After finally catching his breath, Bolt pulled out of Christine, flipped her back over and pulled her close after getting onto the bed next to her, and pulled the blanket over them both.

Christine's eyes were wide with amazement. "Wow… that was… wow."

"I hope I didn't get too carried away at the end there," Bolt spoke.

"No. Of course not," Christine told him. "Bolt, you were amazing."

"And so were you," Bolt told her before kissing on the forehead. "I love you, Christine."

"And I love you," Christine responded as she closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him.

Bolt closed his eyes as well, and in a matter of moments the two of them were sound asleep.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** The character of Val is one that I was originally planning to show up in another Pokemon story I've been trying to develop called Alola Dawn, and I'll probably still use him in that story when the time comes. I also originally had it in mind for Val to use and Alolan Dugtrio, mainly because the Fabio-like hairstyles that each Dugtrio head rocks fit with Val's style. The more I thought about it though, I realized that Val using a Dugtrio would put Bolt at too much of a disadvantage. Val will have an Alolan Dugtrio when he shows up again in Alola Dawn at some point.

So I hope everyone enjoyed this episode. Our next installment will focus more on Elesa and Skyla, and a little bit on Lisa and Marie too. Until next time, please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Dance of Neon & Skybird

**Author's Note:** I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to post this chapter this week because my schedule has been a little packed. Anyway, this will probably be the most risque chapter yet, and I find I'm a little hesitant to post it. I'll let all of you be the judge though on whether or not I went too far.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Episode 4: Dance of Neon & Skybird

It was early in the evening as Elesa sat in the ship's bar. Her mind was once again on Marie and the memories of the only other time she had encountered the blonde years ago. Elesa felt that Marie had changed quite a bit since that battle in her gym years ago, that much seemed clear from what she had seen in Marie's battle with Christine. Yet the memories that had been stirred from seeing Marie once again left a bad taste in her mouth. After all, the battle that Elesa had fought against Marie's alter ego happened on one of her worst days as a gym leader.

Elesa could still remember the event pretty clearly. She could still remember Marie's almost insane laughter of triumph after she and her friend, Bianca had defeated her and Bianca's father in that strange tag team battle, as well as Marie's words right at the end.

 _"What a pathetic pair you are,"_ Marie had taunted. _"A model whose attacks are all flash and no bang and a man who can't admit that his little girl has grown up."_

It was the all flash and no bang comment that had really gotten to Elesa. It had been a while before she had regained her confidence as a gym leader, but the memory of that brutal loss still stung.

"There you are!" a familiar voice spoke.

Elesa turned her head to see Skyla standing before her with her hands on her hips. The redhead was dressed in a blue leather jacket with gold pilot wings pinned to the chest, along with a sky-blue top that showed off her midriff and cleavage, along with a short black skirt and blue boots that went half way up her legs.

"Oh… hey Sky," Elesa responded.

"I've been looking all over the ship for you, ya know," Skyla told the model as she sat down on the stool next to her. "What's been with you? You've been kinda gloomy ever since this voyage started."

"It's Ash's friend, Marie," Elesa explained as she stirred her martini. "She just bugs me."

"She seems like a nice enough girl to me," Skyla remarked. "And I can kinda understand the way she acted from what little we know about her past. Ash said that Marie's cousin, the one who framed her for that crime, was some kind of psycho who tried to drown the planet or something. You knew him though, right? Did he ever strike you as the type of guy who'd do something like that?"

"Andre? Not for a second," Elesa answered with a small smile. "But then he was a charmer, not to mention quite the flirt. Not that he ever had a chance of getting me into bed though."

Skyla chuckled. "Well obviously."

"The bottom line though is that I never really knew the type of person Andre really was," Elesa continued. "And I can't help but wonder if his cousin is the same way."

"You mean Marie might be putting on some kind of act?" Skyla asked.

"The thought crossed my mind," Elesa answered before taking another sip from her drink. "I can't help but wonder if the Marie we're seeing today is all an act, and that the girl in the mask I fought all those years ago is the real her. The way I see it, there's only one way for me to find out."

"You want to battle her, don't you?" Skyla realized.

Elesa nodded. "It's the only way for me to know for sure. Plus I'll have a chance at payback for the defeat she handed me all those years ago."

"Well, if you want to battle Marie, you'll probably have to get past that girlfriend of hers first," Skyla assumed. "Lisa seems super-protective of Marie, or at least that's the vibe I get."

"I've been getting the same vibe myself," Elesa agreed. "Which is why I'd like to ask for your help, Sky."

"Ah. I get it. Want to take them on as duo, huh?" Skyla realized as she put a hand on Elesa's shoulder. "Well you can count me in! You know I'll always back you up."

"Thanks Sky. I knew I could count on you," Elesa replied. "Tomorrow morning, Neon and Skybird will be making a comeback performance."

* * *

It was early in the afternoon as Ash and the others gathered at the small battlefield aboard the ship. Ash and Lisa had taken their positions on the battlefield and were getting ready to face off. Misty and the others meanwhile watched from the sidelines.

"Okay Ash. I've waiting long enough to see your Lucario's Mega Evolution in action," Lisa spoke.

"And I've been looking forward to seeing your Blaziken Mega Evolve," Ash admitted.

"Then let's get this started!" Lisa declared as she tossed out a pokeball. "Go Phoenix!"

Bursting out of the thrown ball was a tall humanoid creature with a red bird-like face and body. It stood at about the same height as Lisa, and it had grey talons for hands, yellow feet, and long blond hair-like feathers that split down the middle like a V. Clamped around the creature's right wrist was manacle that looked gold with copper trim. Carved into the sides of the manacle was a flame motif, and set in the top was a red spherical stone.

"Get in there, Lucario!" Ash ordered.

Lucario nodded and calmly walked onto the battlefield. He then took a fighting stance, prompting Phoenix to do the same thing.

"Okay Phoenix, use Blaze Kick!" Lisa commanded.

The stones in Lisa's bracelet and Phoenix's manacle began to glow. Phoenix cried out and was enveloped in a blinding light. When the light cleared, Phoenix's upper legs and part of his torso had turned black. The two sections of his hair had grown shorter and were now pointing backward. Both of his wrists had gained a pair of orange flame-like streamers. As the transformation ended, a multicolored DNA helix shined briefly above Phoenix's head.

"Dodge and use Bone Rush!" Ash ordered.

Ash's keystone started to glow along with Lucario's Mega Stone, and suddenly Lucario cried out before his body gave off a golden pillar of light that shot into the sky. The light faded to reveal Lucario in his Mega form. A multicolored DNA helix briefly shined above Lucario's head, and his body was shrouded in a golden aura and giving off blue electrical sparks. At the same time, Ash's eyes had turned the same color green as Lucario's and his bod was also giving off soft blue sparks. Pikachu felt the sparks coming from Ash's body and suddenly seemed to get fired up as yellow sparks started to fire from his cheeks.

Marie lowered her sunglasses to get a better look at Lucario. "So this is Lucario's Mega Evolution. It seems… different from other Mega Evolutions I've seen."

"Come to think of it, Lucario's Mega Evolution seemed flashier than Phoenix's," Misty realized.

"It was flashier than my Altaria's too," Christine noted.

"Yeah. Plus, what's with the lightshow that's coming from Lucario's body?" Bolt pointed out. "I've seen a least a few Pokemon Mega Evolve more than once, and none of them have done that."

Phoenix jumped into the air towards Lucario and prepared to deliver a flying kick. As the bird warrior came in range, his foot became shrouded in flames. At the last moment though, Lucario rolled to the right and dodged the kick, causing Phoenix to strike the empty ground. A long metallic bone formed in Lucario's right paw, and before Phoenix could move the jackal began pummeling him relentlessly with his weapon. After a few moments Lucario's attack stopped, and Phoenix stood catching his breath.

"Don't give up, Phoenix!" Lisa called. "Use Sky Uppercut!"

"Aura Sphere!" Ash commanded.

With incredible speed, Phoenix delivered a powerful punch to Lucario's jaw, sending him into the air. Lucario recovered from the attack though and flipped through the air, landing on both feet. The jackal Pokemon then formed a sphere of blue aura surrounded by a golden aura between his paws. Lucario fired the sphere at Phoenix, striking him in the chest and causing him to fall to one knee.

"Finish it, Lucario!" Ash commanded. "Close Combat!"

Lucario moved in and cried out as he relentlessly struck Phoenix with his fists. His arms moved at such blinding speed that it seemed like he had more than two. Eventually Lucario's attack ended, and Phoenix fell to the ground unconscious, reverting to his original form. Lucario walked back over to Ash's side as he returned to his original form as well. Ash and Pikachu had both returned to normal as well.

"That was a nice battle," Ash praised as Lisa called back Phoenix. "Phoenix was certainly a better opponent than all of Richter's Pokemon."

"Thanks," Lisa replied. "I have to say though Ash, your Lucario's Mega Evolution was way stronger than I had expected. In fact, there was something kind of… odd about it."

"Really?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah man. It looked different from a lot of the other Mega Evolutions I've seen," Bolt interjected as he and the others came over.

"Well, I guess I should get Phoenix to the ship's Pokemon Center," Lisa decided.

"Not so fast!" a voice interrupted. Lisa and the others looked to see Elesa showing up with Skyla. "You're not going anywhere just yet, Lisa Flare."

"Oh boy," Ash spoke with a heavy sigh. "What do you guys want?"

"It's simple," Skyla answered as she and Elesa pointed at Marie and Lisa. "We've come to take on your two friends there in a tag battle!"

"I see. Well, I suppose something like this was going to happen eventually," Marie spoke. "Let me guess Elesa, this has something to do with my visit to your gym years ago in Nimbasa City."

"You bet it does," Elesa confirmed. "It took me quite a while for me to get over what happened that day. Now's finally my chance to get some payback."

"If you want Marie, you're going to have to go through me first!" Lisa declared.

"We know that. That's why we're taking you on as a duo," Skyla told them. "And don't think you can run away from this fight."

"I have no plans on running from my past," Marie told them. "If you want a battle, I'll take you on."

"And I will too!" Lisa added.

"Terrific!" Elesa responded. "Oh, and if by some miracle you actually manage to beat us, Sky and I will give you a very special prize."

"Um, babe? What sort of prize are you talking about?" Skyla whispered to Elesa.

"I don't know. I just said that to motivate them," Elesa whispered back. "Besides, it's not like they'll actually be able to beat us."

"You're on!" Lisa agreed.

With that, the four trainers took their positions on the battlefield. Ash and the others moved to a spot where they could watch.

"Let's go, Entei!" Lisa called as she threw out a pokeball.

Bursting from Lisa's thrown pokeball was a large brown lion-like Pokemon with white paws and a cream-colored underside. On its back was a large almost cape-like growth that looked like billowing grey smoke. The beast's face looked as if it were a mask with a three-pointed yellow crest on the forehead, red panels on the sides, and a white plate on the front that looked like a mustache.

Marie looked to Lisa and nodded before tossing out her own pokeball. "Go Darkrai!"

Darkrai emerged from the thrown ball and hovered next to Entei.

"Ash told us all about your little Attract tactics from when you fought him years ago in Black City," Marie told Elesa and Skyla. "Since Darkrai and Entei aren't effected by such a move, you won't be able to use that trick to win like you did back then."

"Wait, those two actually beat you?" Bolt asked Ash.

"I was having an off day," Ash replied as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh please. Elesa and I have a whole new bunch of tricks up our sleeves," Skyla told them as she put on a pair of aviator sunglasses and pulled out a pokeball. "Soar, my majestic red wings, Salamence!"

Flying out of Skyla's pokeball was a large blue four-legged dragon with a massive pair of red wings. Its underside of its torso was blue-grey and looked almost bony. The sides of its legs, as well as the undersides of its neck and long tail were red. The dragon's jaw was grey and it had two patches of red above its eyes, and on the each side of the dragon's head were three long spines. On the top of Salamence's head was a greenish metal crest attached using black leather straps. Adorning this crest was a smooth round stone.

"Hey! I thought Skyla was the leader of a Flying-Type gym," Bolt spoke.

"Salamence is a Flying-Type," Ash pointed out. "More importantly though, look at what Salamence has on its head."

"A Mega Stone!" Misty realized. "So Skyla's Salamence can Mega Evolve too."

Before pulling out a pokeball, Elesa pressed a button on the side of her headphones, causing a pair of gold visor-like sunglasses to extend over her eyes. "Let's shine, Ampharos!"

Bursting out of the thrown ball a yellow bipedal sheep-like creature white a white belly and a long neck with three black stripes decorating it. On the sides of its head were two almost football-shaped horns; each with two black stripes decorating them, and on its forehead was a large red orb. The creature had a pair of stubby flipper-like arms, and both feet had a single white nail on the toe. On its rear was a long tail decorated with three black stripes and a red orb at the end. Around the base of the sheep creature's neck was a silvery collar with a spherical white, yellow and red stone decorating the front.

"I take it that this Pokemon evolved from the Mareep you used against me in our original battle," Marie deduced.

"Right you are. And she's about to become even more dazzling!" Elesa declared. "Ampharos, use Dragon Pulse on Darkrai!"

Suddenly the keystone in Elesa's bracelet began to shine along with the Mega Stone in Ampharos's collar. Ampharos bleated out before her body glowed with a dazzling yellow light. When the light faded, a mane of long flowing white wool had grown from the back of her head. Her tail had also become totally covered in white wool and decorated with small red orbs. The nails on the sheep's toes had turned black. The horns on the sides of her head had not only grown longer, but had also become segmented and curved upward. As her transformation finished, a multicolored DNA helix glowed briefly above her head.

Ampharos opened her mouth and bleated out again as a crackling ball of blue light formed in front of her face. When it became large enough, the electric sheep launched it at Darkrai. The blast struck the nightmare Pokemon in the chest and knock him back almost two feet.

"Entei, attack Ampheros with Sacred Fire!" Lisa commanded.

Entei roared and became shrouded in dazzling rose-colored flames as his eyes suddenly glowed blue. The flames briefly took the form of a majestic bird.

"What the… since when can Entei use Sacred Fire?" a surprised Ash asked.

"Well, Ho-Oh basically created Entei according to the legends we've heard," Misty pointed out. "So it's probably not surprising that Entei would be able to use Ho-Oh's strongest attack."

Entei charged towards Ampharos and blasted the sheep with the flames covering his body. When the fire died away, a burn mark had appeared on Ampheros's arm, but she was still standing. Not only that, the sheep Pokemon seemed relatively unfazed by the attack.

"Something's off. That attack should've done a lot more damage," Lisa realized. "What's going on here?"

"The power of my Ampheros's Mega Evolution not only allowed her to regrow that stunning hair of hers," Elesa explained. "It also changed her from a pure Electric-Type to an Electric and Dragon-Type."

"Which means Entei's Fire attacks won't be as affective against Ampharos," Ash realized.

"Marie, Entei and I will handle Ampharos," Lisa told her. "Ampharos has already been burned by Entei's attack, so we've got her right where we want her."

Marie nodded. "Okay. Then I guess Darkrai and I will handle Skyla's Salamence."

"I kinda figured this is what would happen," Skyla spoke with a confident smirk. "No biggie though. Salamence, use Dragon Claw on Darkrai!"

Salamence roared as her Mega Stone and the keystone in Skyla's bracelet began to glow. In moments Salamence was enveloped in a blinding explosion of light, fading moments later to reveal the dragon in a new form. The wings on her back had joined together and formed a large crescent shape. Her tail had grown shorter and its front pair of legs had tucked into the sides of her body. The underside of the dragon's jaw had grown red, and the top two spines on her head had grown longer while the middle pair of spines curved forward to meet its mouth. As Salamence's transformation finished, a multicolored light in the form of a DNA strand briefly shined over her head.

"Darkrai, attack Salamence with Dark Void!" Marie commanded.

Salamence took off high into the air and dove down towards Darkrai from the right. The nightmare Pokemon formed a ball of black energy between his hands and fired it up towards the dragon. Salamence quickly weaved to the right and avoided the projectile. Then when she got in range, the dragon extended her right foreleg and slashed Darkrai across the chest with a set of glowing blue claws before taking back off into the air.

"Ampharos, use Confuse Ray on Entei!" Elesa ordered.

Ampharos fired a dazzling ball of pink light from the gem adorning her forehead that struck Entei in the face. Entei blinked a few times and suddenly began to stagger as if dizzy.

"Now use Thunder Bolt!" Elesa commanded.

Ampharos bleated as she fired bolts of yellow electricity from her horns that zapped Entei, causing him to roar in pain. After the attack ended, the beast of fire seemed to have trouble moving.

"Confused and paralyzed," Elesa observed. "Looks like I've got Entei right where I want it."

"Use Bulldoze!" Lisa commanded.

Entei roared and stomped his right front paw on the ground hard. Soon after, a wave of earth rose up and struck Ampharos, knocking the sheep dragon into the air. Ampharos quickly recovered from the attack though and landed on both feet.

"Now use Flamethrower!" Lisa ordered.

The beast of fire opened his mouth and breathed out a stream of red flames at Ampharos. Ampharos was hit in the chest by the attack but easily withstood it.

"Salamence! Hit Darkrai with Dragon Breath!" Skyla commanded.

"Dodge and use Ice Beam!" Marie ordered.

Salamence did another pass around the field before diving back towards Darkrai and spewing out a stream of greenish flames down at the nightmare Pokemon. Darkrai moved to the left and managed to dodge the attack at the last second. Soon after, he fired a beam of white electrical energy from between his hands that struck Salamence's left wing, causing a large patch of ice to form on it. Salamence wobbled in the air as she continued towards the ground and nearly crashed before pulling up at the last second, shattering the ice covering her wing in the process.

"Ampharos, use Zap Cannon!" Elesa commanded.

"Dodge it!" Lisa orderd

Ampharos opened her mouth and fired a large ball of yellow electrical energy across the field towards Entei. Despite his confusion and paralysis, Entei managed to jump out of the attack's path. The ball lightning kept on going though and struck Darkrai in the back, causing a small explosion. When the smoke cleared, Darkrai seemed to have trouble moving.

"Not good," Bolt spoke. "Zap Cannon is an attack that not only does a huge amount of damage, it also paralyzes the opponent it hits. This isn't looking good for Lisa and Marie."

"No. Both Entei and Darkrai are in pretty bad shape," Ash agreed. "Then again, Ampharos can't be doing so good after taking that burn from Entei's Sacred Fire, and from the looks of it Salamence took a lot of damage from Darkrai's Ice Beam. This could still be anyone's battle."

"Damn!" Lisa cursed. "Sorry Marie."

"It's fine," Marie told her. "We still have a chance at beating them."

"Well Marie, what do you think of my dazzling Ampharos now?" Elesa asked. "You still say her attacks are all flash and no bang?"

"Did I really say that to you when we fought all those years ago?" Marie asked. "Well… I was a different person back then, but then so were you, Elesa. For one thing, you're far stronger than you were when we last faced each other. I wonder if it has anything to do with that partner of yours?"

"Well, I have had Ampharos for a pretty long time," Elesa responded.

"I was talking about Skyla," Marie told her. "She seems to have brought out the best in you, and you in her. I can understand that, because Lisa has brought out the best in me."

"Uh… well, I guess I never realized that before, but you might be onto something there," Elesa admitted as she rubbed the back of her head.

"That being said though, there's no way you're going to beat Lisa and I," Marie declared. "Darkrai, attack Salamence with Ice Beam!"

"Ampharos! Hit Darkrai with Thunder Bolt!" Elesa commanded.

"Not gonna happen!" Lisa declared. "Entei! Hit Ampharos with Bulldoze!"

Before Ampharos could zap Darkrai with another blast from her horns, Entei stomped the ground and sent another wave of earth across the field at the sheep dragon. Ampharos was hurled into the air by the attack and hit the ground on her stomach. The sheep dragon was knocked unconscious and reverted back to her original form. Meanwhile, Darkrai blasted Salamence in the chest with another ice beam, causing a large patch of ice to form. Salamence crashed to the ground but was still conscious, and she roared at Darkrai as she extended her front legs from her protective shell.

"Dark Void!" Marie ordered.

Darkrai hurled another sphere of black energy at Salamence that hit the dragon in the face. The dragon started to writhe on the ground in the grips of a horrible nightmare.

"Now use Dream Eater!" Marie commanded.

Darkrai extended his arms towards Salamence, and soon a red energy began to flow from the dragon's body into his hands. After a few moments, Salamence's eyes snapped open, only for them to close again as she fell unconscious and reverted back to her original form.

"Well, I guess that's it," Marie remarked as she and Lisa called back their respective Pokemon. "The two of you gave us a good fight."

"I'll say," Lisa agreed as Elesa and Skyla called back their two Pokemon. "You're both much stronger than I expected, even for gym leaders."

"No argument here," Bolt interjected as he and the others came over. "The two of you could probably even be Elite Four members, that is if they ever had any new openings in Unova."

"Aw! You're gonna make us blush," Skyla told them.

"And Marie, part of the reason why Skyla and I challenged you and Lisa today was so I could find out what sort of person you really are," Elesa informed her. "I can see now that you aren't the monster I thought you were in the beginning."

"Thanks," Marie responded. "Well, Lisa and I should get our Pokemon to Nurse Joy. That battle really did a number on them." With that, Marie and the others started to walk off while Skyla and Elesa hung back for a moment. After a few moments though, Marie stopped to say something to them. "Oh, and Elesa? Lisa and I will be looking forward to getting that special prize you mentioned before."

Elesa and Skyla stood frozen for a few moments as Marie and the others finally left. When they were finally gone, Elesa let out a heavy sigh and cursed under her breath.

"You just had to give them that extra motivation, didn't you?" Skyla spoke as she crossed her arms.

"Hey. I didn't think we'd lose to them like that," Elesa pointed out. "Boy, this did not turn out at all like I thought it would."

"Well, at least you have some closure regarding Marie," Skyla pointed out.

"True, and she did make me realize something that I hadn't realized before," Elesa told her. "In the end, losing to both her and Ash on that day was probably the best thing to ever happen to me."

"What do you mean?" Skyla asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… chances are if I hadn't been beaten so badly, I might not have run across you in that park and eventually confessed my true feelings for you," Elesa explained. "I might've been doing something else that day and totally missed you."

"I think I get what you mean. If Ash hadn't beaten me so badly at my gym that day, I wouldn't have ever ended up in that park," Skyla agreed. "I would've just kept on flying my planes and doing those pointless mental battles with visiting trainers that proved nothing."

"And Marie was right about something else too," Elesa added. "We do bring out the best in each other."

"That we do," Skyla replied before kissing Elesa on the cheek. "Of course this still doesn't answer the question about what we're going to do for that 'special prize' you said we'd give them."

"Yeah… it doesn't," Elesa replied with a heavy sigh. "We're going to have to give this some real thought."

* * *

After they had gotten Ampharos and Salamence treated, Elesa and Skyla had headed straight to the bar to discuss the matter of Marie and Lisa's prize. During their meeting, the couple ended up having just a few too many drinks, and somewhere along the line Elesa ended up having what she called a wicked idea. In her intoxicated state, Skyla had agreed to Elesa's rather scandalous plan, and the two of them headed back to their quarters to put it into action. The night was still young, and the two of them wanted them to finish work on Lisa and Marie's prize as soon as possible.

In the large bedroom of their quarters, Elesa stood wearing nothing but her headphones and a white bathrobe working on a small silver video camera set up on a black tripod. In the white-haired model's left hand she held a small remote that operated the stereo and fog machine Elesa had brought with to help practice her modeling routines. The room had also been set up with special colored lights and strobe lights that had been set up by the ship's crew at Elesa's special request. Being a celebrity model did have its perks. The camera's tripod had been set up before a large and sturdy wooden table.

Elesa let out a drunken giggle as she finished setting up the camera. "We're almost ready, Sky!"

"Oh god! I cannot believe we're actually doing this!" Skyla spoke from the open door of the bathroom with a drunken giggle of her own. "I hope Lisa and Marie appreciate this."

"Oh, I'm sure they will," Elesa replied before pressing one final button on the camera. She then hit a button on the remote, causing the sound of a loud techno beat to fill the room. "And… you're on."

Skyla twirled out of the bathroom wearing nothing but her hair ornament. Two large powder-blue feathered fans that she held in each hand obscured her naked form as she emerged. The redhead danced seductively in front of the camera, skillfully moving the fans to cover her front. As Skyla twirled to one end of the makeshift stage to the other, she deftly moved one of the fans to cover her backside, putting out one leg before repeating the move to twirl over to the other side. It was clear that this was not the first time that Skyla had given Elesa this performance, though it was the first time she had done it on camera.

Elesa stood with a large smile on her face as she watched Skyla's dance while bobbing her head to the techno beat filling the room. Eventually Elesa pressed another button on the remote, causing colored lights of blue, orange and purple to shine down on Skyla from above. At the same time, the fog machine turned on and covered the floor of the room in a thick white mist, giving Skyla's dance an otherworldly effect. As the beat of the music quickened, the pace of Skyla's dance increased. Then at last when the music hit its climax, Skyla spread her fans apart and bared her full front to the camera.

"Okay. Looks like I'm on," Elesa spoke as she pressed another button on her remote.

Soft blue lights shined down in Skyla, causing the sweat on her skin to glisten. Elesa undid her robe and let it drop to the ground as the stereo in the room switched to a softer track of music. Elesa sauntered over to Skyla in front of the camera. The redhead dropped her fans and turned to face her. They gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments before meeting in a deep open-mouthed kiss.

Skyla gripped the back of Elesa's head as their tongues grinded against one another. When they broke for air, Elesa inserted a pair of fingers into Skyla's moist womanhood. The redhead gasped and moaned before inserting a pair of her own fingers into Elesa's entrance. The two of them stood close together, breathing heavily and moaning as they pumped into each other. They shared another long open-mouthed kiss before they finally came close to the edge. Then in one blissful moment the two of them came to a hard climax. The two of them pressed their foreheads against one another as they came down from their high.

"Ready for the big finish?" Elesa whispered.

"Whenever you are," Skyla whispered back.

As they pulled apart, the stereo changed to a much more powerful techno beat. Skyla moved over and got onto her back on the table she had been dancing in front of. Elesa got onto the table as well. Taking hold of Skyla's leg, the white-haired model pressed her own womanhood against Skyla's entrance. The lights in the room began flashing between different colors as Elesa began to pound into Skyla.

Skyla moaned and arched her back as her large breasts bounced with the force of Elesa's movements. Over time Elesa quickened the pace of her hips as the pace of the techno beat increased, and soon both of them were covered in glistening sweat. Then at last as the current track of the stereo reached its end, the two of them managed to climax at the same time. Elesa collapsed on top of Skyla as the stereo started to play the soothing track of a babbling broke. The two of them remained on the table as a tangle of limbs as they caught their breath.

After a moment, Elesa got up and stopped the camera. She put on her bathrobe and removed the SD card that their little film project had been recorded on.

"Wow… I think we timed that perfectly," Skyla declared as she sat up on the table.

"Well, we've always been in pretty good synch with each other," Elesa remarked as she put the SD card in a white envelope and wrote something on the front. At that moment, there was a knock at the door. "Ah! Seems the ship's steward's timing is just as good as ours. Excuse me for a second, babe."

Elesa went to the front room and opened the door. Standing on the other side was a short man with receding brown hair, wearing a white uniform.

"Have I come too early, Ms. Elesa?" the man at the door asked.

"You're right on time," Elesa answered as she handed him the envelope with the SD card. "I want you to deliver this to the room of Lisa Flare and Marie Dantes as soon as possible."

"As you wish," the crewman replied before Elesa shut the door.

"Well… I think Lisa and Marie should enjoy the little 'special prize' we just made for them," Elesa spoke before heading into the other room to rejoin Skyla.

* * *

It was the middle of the evening as Marie and Lisa finished preparing for bed. The two of them had each had three glasses of wine at dinner with Ash and the others and were feeling a bit of a buzz. Just as the two had finished changing into their sleep ware and were about to climb into bed, there was a knock at the door.

"Who the hell could that be at this hour?" Lisa asked.

"I'll get it, darling," Marie told her as she grabbed a nearby bathrobe.

Marie went to the front room and opened the door. On the other side was the crewman that had taken Elesa's envelope.

"Forgive the intrusion at this hour, Ms. Dantes, but Ms. Elesa instructed me to give this to you as soon as possible," the crewman informed her as she handed her the envelope.

Marie took the envelope and looked at it with a raised eyebrow as she excused the crewman and closed the door. She hardly took her eyes off the envelope as she returned to the bedroom. On the front of the envelope was written a single word: Enjoy.

"Who was it?" Lisa asked as Marie reentered the room.

"Someone with an envelope from Elesa," Marie answered as she opened it and dug out the contents. "I guess this was the special prize that she and Skyla had promised us."

"So what is it? A gift card or something?" Lisa asked.

Marie pulled out the SD card and looked at it. "Huh… a video card. I guess they filmed something for us. You brought that laptop of yours, right?"

Lisa nodded and pulled out a red and white laptop from her bag next to the bed. As Lisa fired the device up, Marie got into bed next to her. Once the laptop had finished booting up, Marie inserted the card, causing a video window to pop up. As soon as the blonde pressed play, the video of Skyla's fan dance started. Marie and Lisa's eyes went totally wide only two seconds into the video.

"Oh god!" Lisa exclaimed. "Is she…?"

"Yes," Marie answered, not needing Lisa to even finish the question.

"We really shouldn't be watching this, should we?" Lisa realized.

"No. No we should not," Marie agreed.

Despite their agreement though, the couple kept on looking at the screen as if mesmerized. They continued even after Skyla's dance ended with her baring herself to the camera. They also didn't stop when Elesa stepped on camera soon after, or when the two gym leaders had started fingering each other. As they watch, Lisa's hand snaked over to Marie and dove into her panties. Marie gasped as Lisa began to massage her now moist entrance.

Biting her lower lip, Marie's hand found its way over to Lisa and dove into her panties. The raven-haired girl let out a deep moan as Marie's fingers entered her. Lisa's fingers penetrated Marie's womanhood, and the two of them pumped into one another while they watched as Elesa and Skyla's performance had moved onto the table. As the video reached its conclusion, the two of them hit their climax at the same moment as Elesa and Skyla. The video came to an end as Marie and Lisa sat in bed catching their breath.

"Well… I guess we know how Skyla and Elesa are able to stay in such great shape," Marie remarked.

"We really shouldn't have watched that," Lisa told her.

"No… you're right," Marie agreed. "I don't even know why they sent us something like this. Whatever the case though, this was wrong."

"Totally," Lisa agreed. "…I do kinda want to see it again though."

"…Yes. So do I," Marie agreed before hitting the replay button.

* * *

It was midmorning as Marie and Lisa reached the deck of the ship to join Ash and the others. Both of them were feeling just a little hung over from the wine they drank the night before. Just as they spotted Ash and the rest of the gang, Elesa and Skyla approached them. Both gym leaders were more hung over than they were.

"Hey! Marie, Lisa. How are you two?" Elesa asked.

"We're okay?" Lisa answered.

"Good, good. So listen… last night Sky and I sent you a little video to watch," Elesa began. "You didn't by any chance… watch it, did you?"

"Um… well to be honest, we did try playing it. But we stopped five seconds into Skyla's erotic fan dance," Marie told them.

"Oh thank god!" Skyla declared with a huge sigh of relief. "You see Elesa and I got super wasted while trying to figure out what sort of prize to give you for beating us yesterday, and well… obviously we got carried away."

"So… what did you do with the SD card after you stopped it?" Elesa asked.

"Lisa had her darling Flareon burn it to a crisp so it couldn't be watched again," Marie answered before reaching into her pocket. She pulled out the SD card in question, which was no black and brown and had parts of it melted away. "In fact, it might be best for you two to have it just to be safe."

"Great," Elesa spoke as she took the card from Marie. "Just to be safe though, I'm going to go toss this in the ocean."

With that, Elesa went over towards the edge of the deck, with Skyla following close behind her.

"We aren't going to tell them the truth, are we?" Lisa whispered.

"That we watched the video from beginning to end five times and only had Flareon burn it this morning?" Marie whispered back. "God no!"

"Yeah. You're right. This secret should remain with us," Lisa agreed. "…It was a hot video though."

"Indeed. Inspirational too," Marie replied. "When this vacation ends, I may have to look into getting some giant fans of my own."

"…God, I love you," Lisa declared as she took Marie's hand.

Eventually Lisa and Marie found Ash and the others at the very head of the ship and went over to join them. Elesa and Skyla came over to join them soon after. In the distance, the eight could see a small green and brown island with what looked like a large plume of steam rising from it.

"That must be it," Misty spoke. "Steam Heat Island."

"They say that the natural hot springs on the island are the best in the world," Skyla remarked.

"Guess we'll find out soon enough," Ash responded. "I don't know why, but I get the feeling we're going to be in for a real adventure on that island."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Well, I hope this latest installment wasn't too over the top. One of the reasons I like the idea of Elesa and Skyla as a couple is because there's something so potentially scandalous about them. I don't know if it's because Elesa is a model or what. Anyway, next time we begin the two-part visit to Steam Heat Island, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


End file.
